Sheila Dikshit, Former Delhi Chief Minister And Congress Leader, Dies at 81
Former Chief Minister and Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit died on Saturday. She was 81.
New Delhi, July 20: Sheila Dikshit, former Chief Minister and Delhi Congress chief, died on Saturday. She was 81. Sheila Dikshit was admitted at Escorts hospital earlier this morning. Sheila Dikshit was the longest-serving chief minister of Delhi. She held the post for 15 years from 1998 to 2013. She also served as Governor of Kerala for seven months from March 2014 to August 2014.
"Sheila Dikshit was managed well by a team of doctors. At 3:15 pm she again suffered a cardiac arrest. She was put on the ventilator and at 3:55 pm she passed away peacefully," Dr Ashok Seth, Director of Escorts Fortis, said. Dikshit was appointed as the Delhi party unit head by then Congress president Rahul Gandhi on January 10 ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
In the Lok Sabha polls, Dikshit contested against BJP's Manoj Tiwari from the North East Delhi seat. She came second. While Congress, under Dikshit's leadership, couldn't win single Lok Sabha seat in Delhi, the party managed to push Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates on the third place in five of the seven seats. Congress's vote share also rose.
Reacting to Dikshit's death, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Congress leader made a noteworthy contribution to Delhi’s development. "Deeply saddened by the demise of Sheila Dikshit Ji. Blessed with a warm and affable personality, she made a noteworthy contribution to Delhi’s development. Condolences to her family and supporters. Om Shanti," PM Modi tweeted.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal described Diskhit's death as "huge loss for Delhi". "Just now got to know about the extremely terrible news about the passing away of Mrs Sheila Dikshit Ji. It is a huge loss for Delhi and her contribution will always be remembered. My heartfelt condolences to her family members. May her soul rest in peace," Kejriwal tweeted.
The Congress party said: "We regret to hear of the passing of Sheila Dikshit. Lifelong congresswoman and as three-time CM of Delhi she transformed the face of Delhi. Our condolences to her family and friends. Hope they find strength in this time of grief."
Dikshit was married to Vinod Dikshit, son of independence activist and former West Bengal Governor Uma Shankar Dikshit. She is survived by two children including a son, Sandeep Dikshit, who is a former MP and a daughter, Latika Syed.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 20, 2019 04:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).