#RIPSheilaDikshit: Five things to know about the three-time Delhi CM
Three-time Delhi Chief Minister and veteran Congress party leader, Sheila Dikshit, passed away on Saturday at the age of 81 in New Delhi. Dikshit, who took over as the Delhi Congress President in January, died of a cardiac arrest at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute. Apart from being the longest-serving Delhi CM, here are five things you should know about the Iron Lady of Delhi.
Dikshit, who holds the record for the longest-serving Delhi CM (1998 -2013), is also the country's longest-serving woman Chief Minister. Her close relations with former Congress President Sonia Gandhi reportedly played a role in her appointment as Delhi Congress President in May 1998, just six months before Assembly polls. She later led the party to three consecutive Assembly election victories in Delhi until 2013.
Dikshit was married to IAS officer Vinod Dikshit, the son of veteran UP Congress leader Uma Shankar Dikshit, who was a Minister in former PM Indira Gandhi's Cabinet. It was Indira Gandhi who first acknowledged Dikshit's administrative skills and nominated her as a Member of Indian delegation for the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. She represented India at UN from 1984-89.
Dikshit entered politics reluctantly after Indira Gandhi's death in 1984 when Rajiv Gandhi asked her to contest from Uttar Pradesh. While she was hesitant, her husband and father-in-law encouraged her following which she won from the Kannauj Lok Sabha constituency. She served as a Union Minister between 1986-89: first as the MoS for Parliamentary Affairs and then as MoS in the Prime Minister's Office.
Dikshit is also known for leading a movement against atrocities being committed on women. In 1990, she was imprisoned for 23 days along with her 82 colleagues by the Uttar Pradesh government for leading a drive against the violence on women in the state.
Despite being criticized as "an outsider" in Delhi and the "bahu of Uttar Pradesh", Dikshit overcame several challenges and ensured rapid development of Delhi on all fronts. However, she was not an "outsider" as she grew up in Delhi and graduated from the prestigious Miranda House. She is credited with remarkably transforming Delhi into a modern capital during her tenure as the Chief Minister.
