| Sheila Dikshit | |
|---|---|
| Sheila Dikshit giving an Interview | |
| Chief Minister of Delhi | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office December 3, 1998 |
|
| Preceded by | Sushma Swaraj[1] |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 31 March 1938 Kapurthala, Punjab, British India |
| Political party | Indian National Congress |
| Spouse(s) | Vinod Dikshit (deceased) |
| Children | son and daughter [2] |
| Alma mater | University of Delhi |
| As of 12 November, 2008 Source: Government of Delhi |
|
Sheila Dikshit (Hindi: शीला दीक्षित, born 31 March 1938) is the Chief Minister of Delhi. She is from the Indian National Congress. Dikshit was sworn in as the Chief Minister for a third consecutive term of the Government of Delhi state in January 2009 after pulling a victory in November 2008 state elections. She is the second woman Chief Minister of Delhi and represents the New Delhi Constituency in the Legislative Assembly of Delhi.
Contents |
Dikshit (being the chief guest(?)) so told at Modern School that she did her schooling from Modern School, Barkhamba Rd. for 6 months but was put in a convent after that. Dikshit holds a Master of Arts degree. She received her education in New Delhi, and later Miranda House, University of Delhi. She is also the recipient of Doctor of Philosophy, honoris causa, from the University of Delhi. She was married into the family of Shri Umashankar Dikshit, a noted independence activist and a former Governor and Union Cabinet Minister (in U.P. Vill. Ugu Distt. Unnao). Her late husband Vinod Dikshit was a member of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). She has two children, son Sandeep Dikshit, who is a member of parliament from East Delhi for Congress and daughter Latika Syed.[3][4]
During the period between 1984 and 1989, she represented Kannauj Parliamentary Constituency of Uttar Pradesh. As a member of Parliament, she served on the Estimates Committee of Lok Sabha. Dikshit also chaired the Implementation Committee for Commemoration of Forty Years of India's Independence and Jawaharlal Nehru centenary. She represented India at United Nations Commission on Status of Women for five years (1984–1989). As President of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, she led her party to victory in the Assembly elections in 1998. Dikshit was dubbed an outsider when she first became Delhi's Chief Minister.[5]
She has also served as a Union Minister during 1986–1989, first as the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and later as a Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office. She was shortlisted for the 2008 World Mayor award. As Chief Minister of Delhi, Dikshit was awarded the Best Chief Minister of India, by Journalist Association of India on 12 July 2008. In 2009, she was awarded Politician of the Year by NDTV..
She represented India on the U.N. Commission on Status of Women for five years (1984–89). In Uttar Pradesh, she and her 82 colleagues were jailed in August 1990 for 23 days by the state government when she led a movement against the atrocities being committed on women. Electrified by this, hundreds of thousands of citizens all over UP joined the movement and courted arrest. Earlier, in the early 1970s, she was chairperson of the Young Women's Association and was instrumental in the setting up two of most successful hostels for working women in Delhi.
She is also the Secretary of the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust.
In 2009, Delhi lokayukta investigated a complaint filed by advocate Sunita Bhardwaj, a BJP worker, saying that Dikshit misused Rs 3.5 crore received from the Central government under the Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission for Rajiv Ratan Awas Yojana to give out personal advertisements.[6] The lokayukta later dropped the corruptions claims.[6][7] The complainant then sought to book Dikshit under the Representation of People’s Act, claiming she had been "misrepresenting facts" about the flats her government had built for the urban poor.[6] It was ruled by the lokayukta that the government actions did not fall foul of the act but it will try to book her under the Section 2 (b) of the Act that stipulates adherence to norms of conduct and integrity expected of ‘public functionaries’.[6] The case is now nearing a verdict with the final arguments having begun.
Mrs Dikshit has hit back at the lokayukta, stating: "[lokayukta] can't be the sole judge of what is unethical" and the anti-graft watchdog should "limit itself to core corruption issues".[7]
Mrs Dikshit was accused of corruption regarding the 2010 Commonwealth games. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report allegedly blamed her for irregularities in imported equipment for street lighting in the city during the games. Delhi chief secretary PK Tripathi stated that the Chief Minister played no part in awarding contracts for street lighting in Delhi during the Commonwealth Games.[8]
On November 2009, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit came under criticism for granting parole to Manu Sharma after media reports of him visiting night clubs in Delhi emerged. Manu Sharma is accused of murdering Jessica Lal and serving life sentence. Mrs Dikshit defended her decision to sign the parole papers, declaring nothing "illegal or unlawful" was done in extending the benefit to the prisoner. The Delhi high court claimed she had given preferential treatment to Sharma in granting parole while neglecting such pleas of "poor" people languishing in jail for years. Asked about high court's criticism of the decision, Dikshit justified her position, saying "whatever files I receive, they come through proper channels."[9] Mrs Dikshit pointed out Delhi Lt governor Tejinder Khanna, stating that he had not objected to the parole papers and had cleared the file paving way for Sharma's parole.[9]
Paul Henry, a TVNZ New Zealand broadcaster referred to New Delhi's chief minister Sheila Dikshit as "the dip shit woman" and "Dick Shit", going on to state that "it's so appropriate, because she's Indian, so she'd be dick-in-shit wouldn't she, do you know what I mean? Walking along the street... she's just so funny, isn't she?"[10] New Zealand Indian Central Association president Paul Singh Bains said the fact that TVNZ was still promoting the clip on its website showed it had "totally lost the plot" and was insensitive to the offence Henry had caused.[11]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sushma Swaraj |
Chief Minister of the Delhi 1998–current |
Succeeded by Incumbent |