Sheila Dikshit: Who me, Scapegoat?

The security guard at this quiet corner house in Delhi’s posh Nizamuddin East neigh­bourhood is visibly annoyed at the unending stream of visitors over the last one week. The day has just begun. In the glass­fronted drawing room on the second floor, overlooking a park, the 78­year­old matriarch of the house is settling down for break­fast—sprinkling black pepper on two egg whites and asking the help to get her a glass of pomegranate juice. Her personal assistant puts two pills beside her, to be taken after breakfast. In another room, on the ground floor, over a dozen people are waiting, half of them with bouquets in hand.

This has been the morning rou­tine for three­time Delhi chief minis­ter Sheila Dikshit ever since she was declared Congress chief ministe­rial candidate for election­bound UP. Relegated almost to political oblivion after her humiliating defeat in the 2013 Delhi assembly elections, Dikshit has now been given the toughest assign­ment of her political career—to win UP for a party which last won an election in the state 27 years ago, in 1989.

Her detractors believe she has been set up as a scapegoat as the Congress is expected to come fourth in the elections and the party needs someone to pin the blame on and shield the Gandhi family. According to sources, election strategist Prashant Kishor, who has been hired to chalk out a victory strategy for the party in UP and Punjab, wanted either Rahul or Priyanka to be the CM candidate. But neither was willing, and Priyanka persuaded Dikshit instead.