The recent stand taken by Sheila Dixit, on various issues, portray one thing, that she is a ‘spectacular politician’. Recently, the Congress Party has appointed her as its Delhi Unit President and she has since curbed all speculation of an alliance with the Kejriwal-led party and taken a dig at the former PM Manmohan Singh by praising PM Modi’s stance on terror. Sheila Dikshit seems to be making a clever move ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Sheila Dikshit's admission: Manmohan Singh's response to terror not as strong as Narendra Modi's
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Earlier in January, the Congress appointed her as the President of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC). The announcement came after the former DPCC President Ajay Maken resigned from the post citing poor health conditions. Later, the Congress committee appointed Dixit as DPCC president citing her experience as CM for 15 years as the reason for her appointment. Congress Party’s Delhi unit in-charge P C Chacko claimed that Dikshit’s presence will boost the party’s morale.
Sheila Dikshit is being treated like a puppet by Congress’ high command after she lost badly in the 2013 Delhi state assembly polls in which she couldn’t even save her own seat despite being the CM for three consecutive terms. Earlier in 2017, she was projected as the CM candidate in the Uttar Pradesh assembly election. But it soon became clear that it was simply a desperate move on the part of the Grand Old party to appease upper caste voters in UP, as Dikshit belongs to the ‘Brahmin’ community. But as the elections in UP were around the corner, the Congress formed an alliance with the Samajwadi Party and sidelined Sheila Dikshit. However, the coalition failed badly and could bag only 54 seats out of the 403 seats.
Congress Party thought of doing something similar this time around in Delhi. Congress party had been trying to form a Grand Coalition i.e. “Mahagathbandhan” prior to the Lok Sabha elections with various political parties including AAP in Delhi. Interestingly, if the Mahagathbandhan had been formed, Sheila Dikshit would have been replaced by Arvind Kejriwal. However, Dixit understood this ploy and prevented the coalition with AAP.
Not to forget that Sheila Dixit is a popular leader in Delhi and this time she is not taking any nonsense. In what can be termed as setback for the foreign policy of the former UPA government, Dixit praised PM Modi over his stand against terrorism. Sheila Dikshit recently gave an interview to popular journalist Vir Sanghvi for the CNN – News 18 channel. During the conversation, when asked by the journalist on whether PM Modi’s anti terror policy stood ground, Sheila Dikshit said, “Manmohan Singh, yes, I agree with you, was not as strong as and as determined as he (Modi) is. But there is also a feeling that he is doing it all for politics.”
Not to forget that, it is the true nature of the Grand Old Party; those who served the purpose are not required further. However, they seem to miss the fact that Sheila Dixit is a seasoned politician and she won’t be toppled easily.
