Cong names Sheila Dikshit as UP CM candidate, says chosen for experience and good work
Sheila Dikshit is the daughter-in-law of prominent Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh Uma Shankar Dikshit, who was a Brahmin face and had served as a union minister and governor for a long time.
Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit was on Thursday named as Congress CM face in Uttar Pradesh where assembly elections are due next year.
The announcement was made by Congress General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi at the party headquarters in the national capital.
“For the first time your assumption has proved right,” he said, referring to media speculation that Dikshit, ousted from power in Delhi in December 2013, would be the face of the Congress in UP.
Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the corruption allegations leveled against Dikshit did not matter since BJP’s Chief Ministers in other states too faced corruption charges.
Azad said she was has been selected for her experience and good work in the past.
The Congress party has largely desisted from naming its chief ministerial candidate in poll-bound states in the past. But it made an exception in Uttar Pradesh by naming Sheila Dikshit (78) as its CM face.
Reacting to her appointment as UP CM face, Dikshit said it’s a big responsibility.
Dikshit’s choice for the top post comes amid speculations that Prashant Kishore, who has been roped in as the party’s poll strategist for Uttar Pradesh, is of the view that a Brahmin face represents the Congress in the politically crucial state.
Dikshit is the daughter-in-law of prominent Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh Uma Shankar Dikshit, who was a Brahmin face and had served as a union minister and governor for a long time.