The Hindu : New Delhi News : I'm an `accidental politician': Sheila

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 11, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

I'm an `accidental politician': Sheila

New Delhi: At the helm of affairs in Delhi for the last seven years, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today termed herself an "accidental politician", saying she rather wanted to be an artist.

"Politics was not the priority of my life. I jumped into the fray accidentally. I rather wanted to be an artist and live peacefully," Ms. Dikshit said receiving an achievement award from her alma mater Miranda House (MH) here.

Ms. Dikshit, along with CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat, historian Romila Thapar, classical vocalist Malati Gilani and artist Anjoli Ela Menon, received the excellence and achievement award given by the Delhi University college.

"I landed in politics without any ambition. May be, I could have been a good teacher, bureaucrat, scholar, classical singer or painter," she said.

Ms. Dikshit, however, appealed to the young gathering to join politics. "Please opt for politics. You can empower our country," she said.

Remembering her college days back in the 1950s, when she was a student of history, Ms. Dikshit said, "I too like many of you skipped classes for film shows... I too roamed around in the university campus, looking at handsome boys. We used to frequently visit Stephens, Hindu and Ramjas colleges." --PTI

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