‘Centre-AAP face-off halting Delhi growth’

JAIPUR: Development in Delhi has come to a standstill because the incumbent governments at the Centre and in the state have failed to reach an 'understanding' over the needs of the capital, former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit said at the Jaipur Literature Festival on Saturday.
At the release of her autobiography 'Citizen Delhi: My Times, My Life', Dikshit recounted her tenure as CM during which the metro rail first started operations in the national capital. She said, "During Atal Bihari Vajpayee's term as Prime Minister, we brought the metro to Delhi. I remember Atal Bihari telling me — 'Jo dilli ke hit ke liye hai, wo is desh ke hit ke liye bhi hai, aur humare hit ke liye bhi hai kyonki humari sarkar bhi yahin baithti hai' (what is good for Delhi, is good for the country as well as for us because Delhi is the seat of our government too)."

She also said it was the "mutual understanding" and "respect and a recognition of the fact that Delhi is not an ordinary city or state but the capital of the country that prompted us to do this".

Citing another instance of how leaders in those years did not allow political differences to come in the way of Delhi's development needs, Dikshit said the then Uttar Pradesh CM Mayawati approved Delhi's demand for land to set up a water treatment plant in less than a week. She said, "Even though we represented different political parties, I didn't even have to meet her. I wrote to her and said how scores of people from UP come to Delhi and that the water needs of the national capital are increasing. In my letter, we asked for the UP government to allot us some land. In less than a week, she responded and the water treatment plant was set up."