Just over five years after stepping down as Chief Minister in December 2013, Sheila Dikshit returned to Delhi politics on Thursday, when she was appointed the president of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC).
Congress president Rahul Gandhi had approved the appointment of Ms. Dikshit, the three-time Chief Minister of Delhi, as well as three working presidents — former Delhi MLAs Devender Yadav, Haroon Yusuf and Rajesh Liliothia — for the DPCC, All-India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge for Delhi P.C. Chacko announced at a press conference on Thursday.
Speaking to the media at her residence after the announcement, Ms. Dikshit said she was “honoured” to be appointed Delhi Congress president.
In good health
Referring to concern about her health, the 80-year-old who underwent heart surgery in 2018, said she was fine.
Ms. Dikshit’s predecessor, former Union Minister Ajay Maken, had resigned citing ill health last year.
However, his resignation was accepted by Mr. Gandhi on January 3.
Reacting to Ms. Dikshit’s appointment, Mr. Maken said via a tweet that he had had the opportunity to learn from her as her Parliamentary Secretary as well as Cabinet Minister.
He added that he believed Ms. Dikshit would oppose the “Modi and Kejriwal governments”.
Mr. Maken’s resignation had come in the backdrop of months-long speculation about a potential alliance between the Congress and the AAP for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Since Mr. Maken had publicly opposed the idea of an alliance, his resignation had revived talk of the parties getting together to fight the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, as well as in other Northern States. Ms. Dikshit had been Chief Minister from 1998 to 2013, when she lost her New Delhi Assembly seat to AAP national convener and present Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Mr. Kejriwal came to power on the back of an anti-corruption movement and highlighted the allegations of graft against the Congress in general and against Ms. Dikshit’s government in Delhi.
However, he has not ruled out an alliance with the Congress. Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Yusuf said there was “no alliance with the AAP as far as we are concerned at the moment”.