Sheila Dikshit

Sheila Dikshit (pronounced [ˈʃiːlaː ˈdiːkʂɪt] ⓘ) (née Kapoor; 31 March 1938 – 20 July 2019)[3] was an Indian politician. The longest-serving Chief Minister of Delhi, as well as the longest-serving female chief minister of any Indian state, she served for a period of 15 years beginning in 1998. Dikshit led the Indian National Congress party to three consecutive electoral victories in Delhi.

Sheila Dikshit
President of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee
In office
11 January 2019 – 20 July 2019
National President (INC)Rahul Gandhi
Preceded byAjay Maken
Succeeded bySubhash Chopra
20th Governor of Kerala
In office
11 March 2014 – 4 September 2014
Chief MinisterOommen Chandy
Preceded byNikhil Kumar
Succeeded byP. Sathasivam[1]
6th Chief Minister of Delhi
In office
4 December 1998 – 27 December 2013
Preceded bySushma Swaraj
Succeeded byArvind Kejriwal
Member of the Delhi Legislative Assembly
In office
4 December 2008 – 28 December 2013
Preceded byConstituency Established
Succeeded byArvind Kejriwal
ConstituencyNew Delhi
In office
3 December 1998 – 3 December 2008
Preceded byKirti Azad
Succeeded byConstituency Abolished
ConstituencyGole Market
Member of parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
1984–1989
Preceded byChhotey Singh Yadav
Succeeded byChhotey Singh Yadav
ConstituencyKannauj
Member of Indian delegation
United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
In office
1984–89
Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs
In office
1984–1989
Prime MinisterRajiv Gandhi
Personal details
Born(1938-03-31)31 March 1938
Kapurthala, Kapurthala State, British India
(present-day: Punjab, India)
Died20 July 2019(2019-07-20) (aged 81)[2]
New Delhi, India
Political partyIndian National Congress
SpouseVinod Dikshit
Children2, including Sandeep Dikshit
Alma materMiranda House, University of Delhi

Dikshit lost the December 2013 elections of the Delhi Legislative Assembly to the Bharatiya Janata Party, though Aam Aadmi Party formed a minority government with outside support from the INC, with Arvind Kejriwal as the chief minister.[4] She briefly served as the Governor of Kerala in 2014.[5] Dikshit was later declared a chief ministerial candidate for the Indian National Congress in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, but withdrew her nomination. She was appointed president of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee on 10 January 2019 and remained in office until her death in July later that year.[6]

Early years

Sheila Kapoor[7] was born on 31 March 1938 in the city of Kapurthala in the Kapurthala Princely State of British India (now in Punjab, India) into a Punjabi Khatri family.[8] Her father's name was Sanjay Kapoor. She was educated at the Convent of Jesus and Mary School in New Delhi and graduated with a Master of Arts degree in history from the Miranda House at the University of Delhi.[9]

Political career

Sheila Dikshit was handpicked by Rajiv Gandhi to be part of his council of ministers after he became the prime minister in 1984. During the period between 1984 and 1989, she represented Kannauj parliamentary constituency of Uttar Pradesh.[10] 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). She 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. 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 against women.[11]

Earlier, in the early 1970s, she was chairperson of the Young Women's Association and was instrumental in the setting up of two of the most successful hostels for working women in Delhi.[12] She was also the secretary of the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust.[13]

In the 1998 parliamentary elections, Dikshit was defeated by Bharatiya Janata Party's Lal Bihari Tiwari in East Delhi constituency. Later in the year, Dikshit became Chief Minister of Delhi, a position she held until 2013. Dikshit represented the Gole Market assembly constituency in the 1998 and 2003 Assembly elections and New Delhi constituency from 2008.[14]

In 2009 and 2013, Dikshit was investigated for alleged misuse of government funds, but no charges were brought.[15][16][17][18]

Her party was wiped out in the 2013 Delhi Legislative Assembly election and Arvind Kejriwal, founder of the Aam Aadmi party , won the election in the New Delhi Assembly constituency by a margin of 25,864 votes.[19][20] She resigned on 8 December 2013, but remained the caretaker chief minister of Delhi until the new government was sworn in on 28 December 2013. She was appointed the governor of Kerala in March 2014, but was forced to resign five months later.[21] She contested the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections as the candidate for Indian National Congress in the North East Delhi Constituency but came second after Bharatiya Janata Party's Manoj Tiwari.

Personal life

Dikshit was married to Vinod Dikshit, son of independence activist and former West Bengal governor Uma Shankar Dikshit from Unnao.[22] He was an officer in the Indian Administrative Service.[23]

Dikshit was the mother of two children: a son, Sandeep Dikshit, who is a former member of Parliament of the 15th Lok Sabha from East Delhi,[24] and a daughter, Latika Dikshit, who was married to Syed Mohammad Imran, an architect.[25]

Her son-in-law turned violent with her daughter and began torturing her daughter, including attempting to choke her to death when she lost the 2013 elections.[26][27][28] He also developed an affair with a niece of Sheila Dikshit and robbed the Dikshit family of most of their wealth.[29][30][25] Many deemed her as a victim of Love Jihad. She was attacked few times but survived.[31][32][33][34]

Dikshit underwent angioplasty in November 2012.[35] In 2018, she had heart surgery in University Hospital in Lille, France.[36]

Death

Dikshit was admitted to Fortis Escorts Heart Institute on 19 July 2019 for cardiac arrhythmia and was put on a ventilator within a few moments of her admission. Her condition stabilized temporarily, however she did not recover from multiple cardiac arrests and her condition worsened during the following period. She later died at 3:55 pm on 20 July 2019, at the age of 81.[37][38][39]

The Delhi government announced a two-day mourning period on her death, and accorded her a state funeral.[40]

Awards and recognition
  • 2008 Best Chief Minister of India, by Journalist Association of India
  • 2009 Politician of the Year by NDTV
  • 2010 Dara Shikoh award by Indo-Iran Society[41]
  • 2013 Delhi Women of the Decade Achievers Award 2013 by ALL Ladies League for Outstanding Public Service.[42]
  • Dikshit meets Prime Minister Modi.
    Dikshit meets Prime Minister Modi.
  • Sheila Dikshit handing over the Olympic Torch to Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi at the beginning of the Olympic Torch Relay in 2004
    Sheila Dikshit handing over the Olympic Torch to Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi at the beginning of the Olympic Torch Relay in 2004

References
  1. "Sathasivam becomes Kerala governor, to take oath on September 5". India Today. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  2. News Galiyara (20 July 2019). "Three-Time Delhi's Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit passed away at 81". NewsGaliyara.com. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  3. "Sheila Dikshit".
  4. "Kejriwal Becomes CM". The Economic Times. 23 December 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  5. "Kerala Governor Sheila Dikshit resigns". The Hindu. 26 August 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  6. "Sheila Dikshit, 3-Time Chief Minister, Appointed Delhi Congress Chief". NDTV.com. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  7. Rajesh Ramachandran (23 October 2013). "In Delhi, BJP bets on surgeon to take on techie crusader | Business Line". Thehindubusinessline.com. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  8. Iyer, Lakshmi (15 December 2003). "Metro Mater". India Today. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013.
  9. "Sheila Dikshit: Profile". Express India. 10 December 2003. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  10. Srinivasan, Chandrashekar (21 July 2019). "Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister For 15 Years, Known For Transforming Delhi". NDTV. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  11. "Did you know Sheila Dikshit was jailed for 23 days in 1990?". DNA India. 20 July 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  12. DelhiJuly 20 (20 July 2019). "Sheila Dikshit passes away at 81: Facts about Delhi's longest-serving CM". India Today. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  13. "Heart filled with grief: Sonia Gandhi writes to Sheila Dikshit's son Sandeep". India Today. 20 July 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  14. Team, BS Web (20 July 2019). "Life & times of Sheila Dikshit, the no-nonsense leader who modernised Delhi". Business Standard India. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  15. "Censure Dikshit, Delhi lokayukta to President of India". Hindustan Times. 18 July 2011. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  16. Garg, Abhinav (26 October 2011). "Sheila Dikshit questions Lokayukta's power". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 30 December 2016.
  17. "Court orders FIR against Sheila Dikshit". The Times of India. 1 September 2013. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016.
  18. "No info on corruption cases against Sheila Dikshit: ACB". The Times of India. 23 September 2015. Archived from the original on 9 September 2016.
  19. "Who is Manjot Nayyar?: Sheila Dikshit asked on poll day, then in defeat said, 'Hum toh bewakoof hain'". Financial Express. 12 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  20. "Delhi election results 2013: As it happened". Zeenews.india.com. 8 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  21. "Sheila Dikshit resigns as governor of Kerala". Firstpost. 27 August 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  22. "Sheila Dikshit: Profile". Hindustan Times. 30 January 2012.
  23. "Sheila Dikshit: Curtains for the matriarch". DNA. 8 December 2013.
  24. "Smt. Sheila Dikshit". Government of Delhi. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  25. "Sheila Dikshit's Son-in-Law Gets Bail". Outlook. 24 November 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  26. "Sheila Dikshit's husband to daughter - complete family tree EXPLAINED". www.timesnownews.com. 21 July 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  27. "Congress flaunted Sheila Dikshit's work, now blames her, daughter hits back". The Indian Express. 13 February 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  28. "Sheila Dikshit's son-in-law held for 'adultery'". The Asian Age. 14 November 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  29. "Former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit's son-in-law arrested for domestic abuse". India Today. 14 November 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  30. "Sheila Dikshit's son-in-law sent to a day's judicial custody". The Economic Times. 17 November 2016. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  31. "लव जिहाद की शिकार हुई थी शीला दीक्षित की बेटी, जान से मारना चाहता था पति". Asianet News (in Hindi). 20 July 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  32. "Case against unidentified men for trespassing Latika Dikshit's house". The Indian Express. 2 December 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  33. "Three people arrested for attempting to attack Sheila Dikshit's daughter Latika in Delhi". Scroll.in. 2 December 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  34. "3 held for attempted attack on Sheila Dikshit's daughter". Business Standard. IANS. 2 December 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  35. Kaul, Rhythma (21 July 2019). "Sheila Dikshit was well, cardiac arrest took doctors by surprise". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  36. "'Deeply saddened,' PM Modi condoles Sheila Dikshit's death". Hindustan Times. PTI. 20 July 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  37. "Sheila Dikshit dies: Former Delhi CM to be cremated on Sunday at 2:30 pm". India Today. 20 July 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  38. "Former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit dead". Live Mint. 20 July 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  39. Thacker, Teena (20 July 2019). "Former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit dead". Live Mint. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  40. "2-day mourning, state funeral announced for Sheila Dikshit". India Today. Indo Asian News Service. 20 July 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  41. "Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit honoured with Dara Shikoh award". Indiatoday. PTI. 11 April 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  42. "21st century is going to be the century of women". The Hindu. 24 July 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sheila Dikshit.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.