In naming Dikshit, Congress tries to make a serious pitch

Former Delhi leader can attract brahmin votes, but party is not a top contender in UP

jasleen

Jasleen Kaur | July 14, 2016 | New Delhi


#UP Polls   #Assembly Elections   #Uttar Pradesh   #BJP   #Congress   #Sheila Dikshit   #Uttar Pradesh elections  


Sheila Dikshit, Congress veteran and former chief minister of the national capital, will be the chief ministerial candidate of the party for the Uttar Pradesh elections, scheduled for early next year.

Dikshit has set the record as the longest-serving chief minister of Delhi. I remember interviewing her just after her party had won the 2008 assembly elections, giving her a third term. I asked her when we would see her in national politics, and she had said that it was up to the party to decide her role. While plans for her greater role in national politics were being discussed, she lost the 2013 assembly elections to Aam Aadmi Party’s Arvind Kejriwal.

Dikshit’s entry into politics has been called accidental. She was married to Vinod Dikshit, an IAS officer and son of Uma Shankar Dikshit, a union minister in the Indira Gandhi government. It was through this family connection that she landed in politics. While she served as a parliamentarian from UP once, she lost three consecutive Lok Sabha elections from the state after 1989, before moving to Delhi politics in 1998.

While serving as the chief minister in Delhi for 15 years, Dikshit brought immense growth and infrastructural development in the city. Her focus was on improving health, education, infrastructure and transport. She has been widely recognised for her contribution in the development of the city. However, she also faced widespread criticism for alleged scams related to Commonwealth Games infrastructure in 2010 and now for the contracts for water tanks.

Uttar Pradesh, which has sent to the Lok Sabha the maximum number of prime ministers so far, was a stronghold of the Congress once upon a time. However, with the rise of the BJP as well as the regional forces, the grand old party has lost a lot of ground in the state. It has been relegated to the fourth position, though the party is trying hard to regain the lost ground. The Congress at present has only two Lok Sabha seats from the state – that of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, and in the assembly it has 28 representatives.

Ahead of the next big gamble on the radar, as BJP and Mayawati’s BSP are roaring to trounce the ruling Samajwadi Party, the Congress is not seen as a main player, but UP being the most populous and politically key state, Dikshit’s new role is going to attract attention.

The decision to give the command of the UP elections to Dikshit will be critical for the party. Dikshit, 78, has changed the look of the national capital. But Delhi is different from UP, in both geographical and demographical sense. She is not at the peak of her career and in fact lost her last election in Delhi.

But caste plays a very important role in UP assembly elections. She is a brahmin, a cast that constitutes around 13 percent of voters in the state. And all the parties today are trying hard to woo brahmin voters because of their crucial numbers in the state. So, she would be the face of critical brahmin voters and also of development she carried out as Delhi chief minister. The Congress definitely relies hard on these two factors.

Comments

 

Other News

‘MAGA’ + ‘MIGA’ = ‘MEGA’ partnership for prosperity: Modi

Prime minister Narendra Modi has linked the dream of a Viksit Bharat with US president Donald Trump’s slogan, ‘Make America Great Again’, or ‘MAGA’, saying that when these two democracies work together, i.e. ‘MAGA’ plus ‘Make India Great Again’ (‘

ONOE: Anti-federalism or pro-reform?

The government`s move to implement ‘One Nation, One Election’ (ONOE) has ignited widespread debate. On one hand, it offers tangible benefits, such as removing the possibility of a governance paralysis and reducing election costs. On the other hand, the opposition and sections of civil society s

PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana completes first year

On February 13, 2025, the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana (PMSGMBY) will mark its first anniversary, celebrating a year of empowering households with affordable solar energy and accelerating India’s transition to a sustainable future. Launched by prime minister Narendra Modi on Febru

How to leverage AI to solve urgent global issues

The world seems to be hurling towards World War III in all the possible scenarios: hot war, cold war, and proxy war. The battleground seems to have expanded beyond physical to digital or virtual/mixed reality with technology like drones. Moreover, the line between civilian and military targets seems to hav

Budget: Progress towards SDGs and areas for improvement

The Union Budget 2025-26 outlines India`s vision for economic and social growth while also reflecting the country`s commitment to sustainable development. As India moves closer to the 2030 deadline for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this budget presents a balanced approach

Repo rate cut by 25 basis points to 6.25%

The Reserve Bank of India has, for the first time in five years, reduced the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points to 6.25% with immediate effect. Consequently, the standing deposit facility (SDF) rate will stand adjusted to 6.00% and the marginal

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now



Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter