Congress names Sheila Dikshit as CM candidate for UP

New Delhi: Ending speculation, Sheila Dikshit was today named by Congress as its chief ministerial candidate for next year’s Assembly polls in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh, citing her “experience and good work” in heading Delhi Government for 15 years.

Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is in charge of party affairs in Uttar Pradesh, said Dikshit was chosen as party’s face for the polls considering her strong credentials as Chief Minister of Delhi for three consecutive terms.

Election strategist Prashant Kishor had recommended that Dikshit should play a major role in the party’s poll campaign in the state projecting her as a prominent Brahmin face and could help Congress regain support of the electorally sizeable community.

Born in a Punjabi Khatri family, Dikshit, 78, is the daughter-in-law of late Congress veteran from UP Uma Shankar Dikshit, a tall Brahmin leader who had served as a Union minister and governor for a long time.

Her 15-year tenure in Delhi as CM ended with the emergence of AAP in 2013 polls in which Congress lost power.

Announcement of Dikshit’s name as CM nominee came days after the party appointed actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar the chief of the Congress in UP.

“Her experience and good work were considered as her big credentials by the party,” Azad told a joint media briefing with party leader Janardan Dwivedi.

The party also announced coordination and campaign committees for Uttar Pradesh which will be headed by Sanjay Singh and Pramod Tiwari respectively.

On her part, Dikshit thanked the party leadership for entrusting her with such a “big responsibility”, adding she would like to have Priyanka Gandhi campaign with her across the state.

“She (Priyanka) is a very popular leader. My plea would be that she campaign across the state,” Dikshit said.

Acknowledging that it will be “major challenge” for her in UP, Dikshit said Congress will go to the polls with confidence and that the party will take on BJP, ruling Samajwadi Party and BSP equally.

Announcement of Dikshit’s nomination came on a day the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of Delhi sent a notice to her asking her to join the investigation in connection with the alleged Rs 400-crore water tanker scam. Dikshit called the allegation “politically motivated”.

Asked why Dikshit who is facing corruption charges against her has been projected, Azad said corruption charges are there against chief ministers of Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, and many BJP ministers in Maharashtra.

“If these three chief ministers are ready to resign, then we are ready to take back her name,” he said, adding BJP is not taking any action on the allegations against its chief ministers.

“First let us decide on these chief ministers,” he said.

The Congress feels making Dikshit, a Brahmin, the face of campaign in Uttar Pradesh will help the party win back support of the community.

The Brahmin community, a traditional vote bank of Congress, had shifted allegiance to BJP in the aftermath of the Mandir-Mandal politics.

A large chunk of Brahmin votes had also gone to Mayawati’s BSP in the past when she gave tickets to many candidates belonging to the community.

The community’s support determines the poll outcome in several seats in central and eastern UP.

I will go to UP polls with conviction and confidence: Dikshit

New Delhi: Making a comeback to active politics after a gap of two-and-a-half years, Sheila Dikshit today said as Congress’ chief ministerial face she would go into the polls in Uttar Pradesh with “conviction and confidence” about resurrecting the party’s fortunes in the state.

Thanking the Congress leadership for giving her the “big responsibility”, 78-year-old Dikshit said Priyanka Gandhi could be a “very big asset” for the party whose workers want her to campaign vigorously in the state where polls are slated early next year.

Dikshit, who led Congress to three consecutive victories in Delhi Assembly polls in 1998, 2003 and 2008 before facing a humiliating drubbing in 2013, losing even her own seat, said she was ready for the “big fight” in the politically crucial state where “demand” for Congress’ return to power was “rising”.

“I wish to fulfil the responsibility sincerely and help Congress improve its performance. We will fight the polls together. The demand for Congress’ return to power in the state is rising,” she said.

The three-time Delhi chief minister, who used to be the darling of the middle class in the capital, said both Priyanka and Rahul gandhi can play an important role in the UP polls but any final decision will have to be taken by the Congress high command.

“It is a big challenge and I am up for it. We will face the electorate with conviction and confidence,” she told PTI.

After the crushing defeat in Delhi assembly in December 2013, Dikshit was almost out of active politics.

She was appointed governor of Kerala by the UPA government in March 2014, just before the model code of conduct came into force for the Lok Sabha polls, and she had resigned from the post in August that year.

Asked how she will help the party in UP where it has lost its support base significantly, Dikshit said,”Every election is a challenge. Sometimes it is big, sometimes small. And all challenges are not the same. Challenge is big in UP and we will go into the elections with the conviction that we are certainly going to win.”

On Priyanka Gandhi’s possible role, Dikshit said she would like her to campaign across the state.

“All Congress workers want her to campaign as she is very popular among the people. I do hope that she will make up her mind to campaign,” said Dikshit, adding “she will be very big asset”.

Asked whether Priyanka was undecided about campaigning in the state, Dikshit said, “I do not know”.

On whether she was initially reluctant about taking the responsibility, Dikshit said it was a “very, very big responsibility”. When you take a very big responsibility, you feel jittery, she said.

Asked about Delhi’s Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) sending a notice asking her to join the investigation in connection with the alleged Rs 400-crore water tanker scam, Dikshit called the allegation “politically motivated”.

“The allegations are politically motivated. There is no evidence,” she said.

Dikshit is the daughter-in-law of Congress veteran from UP late Uma Shankar Dikshit, a tall Brahmin leader who had served as a Union minister and governor for a long time.

The Congress feels making Dikshit, a Brahmin, the face of the campaign in Uttar Pradesh will help the party win back support of the community.

The Brahmin community, a traditional vote bank of Congress, had shifted allegiance to BJP in the aftermath of the Mandir-Mandal politics.

A large chunk of Brahmin votes had also gone to Mayawati’s BSP in the past when she gave tickets to many candidates belonging to the community.

Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is in charge of party affairs in Uttar Pradesh, said Dikshit was chosen as party’s face for the polls considering her strong credentials as Chief Minister of Delhi for three consecutive terms.

Dikshit as CM face will not cut ice with voters: SP, BJP

Lucknow: The ruling Samajwadi Party and Opposition BJP today claimed Congress’ decision of naming Sheila Dikshit its chief ministerial candidate for next year’s Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh would not cut much ice with the voters.

Calling the decision as an “internal matter” of Congress, senior SP leader C P Rai said, “It has to be seen as to how Dikshit can mobilise the party workers who have remained demoralised for over two decades.”

BJP general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak said the “package” announced by Congress is not going to change its policies or its future in the politically-crucial state.

“Congress has been piggy-backing the Samajwadi Party in UP and will continue to play as the B team of SP,” Pathak said.

Congress today chose 78-year-old Dikshit, a Brahmin, as its face for the polls considering “her strong credentials as Chief Minister of Delhi for three consecutive terms” to enable the party regain support of the electorally-sizeable community.

The Brahmin community, a traditional Congress vote bank, is believed to have shifted its allegiance to BJP in the aftermath of the Mandir-Mandal politics.

A large chunk of Brahmin votes had gone to Mayawati’s BSP in the past when she gave tickets to many candidates belonging to that community, whose support determines the poll outcome in several seats in central and eastern UP.

The announcement comes days after the Congress appointed actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar as the party chief of the state.

The party also announced coordination and campaign committees for Uttar Pradesh which will be headed by Sanjay Singh and Pramod Tiwari respectively.

Dikshit thanked the party leadership for entrusting her with such a “big responsibility” and said Congress will take on ruling Samajwadi Party, BJP and BSP equally.

BJP plays down Dikshit elevation, says she’s a retired leader

New Delhi: With Congress naming Sheila Dikshit as its chief ministerial face in Uttar Pradesh, BJP today said the “retired” leader has been projected so that she can be “blamed for the certain loss” of Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi in the state and dubbed the party as a sinking ship.

Dikshit’s elevation has also sparked fresh buzz in the saffron party over whether it will also name a chief ministerial candidate as all other major parties, SP, BSP and Congress, will join the fray with their pick for the top post.

Brahmin votes are crucial for the BJP’s fortune in the state, which goes to the polls early next year, and Congress has apparently chosen the former Delhi Chief Minister, who is daughter-in-law of the state Congress heavyweight Umashankar Dikshit, in a bid to win a section of them to their side.

National Secretary Shrikant Sharma, however, played down the buzz and said BJP’s face was development and other parties were doing a debate on the chief ministerial nominee to dilute its plank of progress and good governance.

He also sought to puncture Dikshit’s credentials, referring to her long hibernation following Congress’ loss in Delhi.

“She is almost 80 and a retired and elderly leader. There were first reports about Rahul Gandhi being his party’s face in UP and then Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was projected. Now they have named Dikshit. She has been projected so that she could be blamed for the certain loss Rahul and Priyanka will suffer in the state.

“Congress is a sinking ship and has no relevance in the state. Whatever experiments Congress may do in UP, none of them will work. Our fight is with Samajwadi Party and Congress is not even in reckoning. It is sinking ship,” he said.

PTI