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Sheila completes full term in office

By Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI DEC. 2 . Already gearing up for another possible term, the Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, will complete five years in office on Wednesday and in the process become the first chief minister to complete a full term.

"It has been quite a satisfying experience, but still a lot needs to be done. I am looking forward to the December 4 results in order to consolidate on whatever has been done in the past. The Congress Government will certainly be stepping up reforms on various fronts and also take the interaction between the government and the citizens to greater heights. However, I am curiously looking forward to the Assembly results and then finalise the plans I have in mind,'' Ms. Dikshit told The Hindu in an informal conversation at her residence today.

Ms. Dikshit took oath of office on December 3, 1998. Conceding that she was still anxious about the final outcome, the Chief Minister said until all the results are out, she would continue to have butterflies in her stomach. This despite the fact that exit polls have shown the Congress party as clear favourites.

The five years in office have made Ms. Dikshit a seasoned politician. "I had the advantage of having the continued guidance of the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, in running the Government successfully.'' Termed as an "outsider'' by her critics when she jumped into Delhi politics, the Chief Minister has proved over the past few years that she was not only capable of taking on the opposition but also the strong opponents within the party. Changing loyalties, severe infighting and the massive dissident movement apart, Ms. Dikshit has emerged victorious. Interestingly, at a time when all her opponents had thought that she had been marginalised and was finding the going tough, she struck with a vengeance cornering major share of the party tickets for the 2003 Assembly polls. She had a tough time with the party general secretary, Ghulam Nabi Azad, now a close friend. Then came the high profile general secretary, Kamal Nath, who had a very uneasy relationship with Ms. Dikshit. However, the advent of the AICC in-charge Delhi, Ahmed Patel, came as a major relief for her as things started looking up.

Refusing to discuss anything about her opponents within the party, the Chief Minister said that Congress is a big family and there was bound to be some difference of opinion. "It is all within the family and it has been often blown up by the media,'' she said.

"I will outline my priorities for the next term after securing a formal majority. However, one thing is for sure, reforms would be first on my agenda. It is a shame that Delhi drains and roads get choked or go bad after the monsoon. This is unacceptable and will have to change. The death of people due to some disease is also something which is not on and steps will have to be taken to reform the whole set to respond to situations effectively and promptly,'' asserted.

Stating that the Congress will live up to the promises made to the people, the Chief Minister said flyovers projects would be taken up on the fast track basis with penal and incentive clauses to ensure time bound completion. The Government would also work towards the task of employment generation opportunities for the youth, particularly in the Information Technology (IT) sector. Then the Government would also take up with the Central Government the issue of regularisation of unauthorised colonies and granting of more powers to Delhi Government under the Statehood format. However, a major boost is in the offing for the Bhagidari Scheme that will possibly be extended to the JJ clusters and also the rural areas in a big way in order to improve the lot of people living in such areas. "My dream would be to make Delhi as the best Capital of which not only Delhiiites but also the country feels proud. A clean, green and environment friendly city where people from India and abroad come and get a feeling of the art, rich heritage and culture,'' she remarked.

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