Rival Congress leaders join hands at party function

New Delhi: The appointment of Sharmistha Mukherjee, the daughter of former President Pranab Mukherjee, as the new chief of the Delhi Mahila Congress and the birthday celebration of the party’s local unit head Ajay Maken, on Friday, saw the party’s rival leaders joining hands together at its headquarters at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg.

It was after a gap of about three-and-a-half years that the three-time Delhi chief minister, Sheila Dikshit, showed up at the Delhi Congress office to extend support to Ms Mukherjee and shower blessings on Mr Maken. The last occasion when Ms Dikshit had visited the party headquarters was in March 2015, when Mr Maken, also a former Union minister, was given charge of the party’s local unit. There have been several occasions when Ms Dikshit raised questions over Mr Maken’s working style. Along with several leaders, she had also raised her concerns about Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Ms Dikshit had even distanced herself from campaigning for her party candidates during the last Assembly elections, in which the party faced a humiliating defeat and not winning even a single seat in the 70-member Assembly. What surprised many at the DPCC (Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee) headquarters was the presence of former Delhi Congress president J.P. Aggarwal. Though Mr Aggarwal had been attending important delegate meetings at the party headquarters, he too has distanced himself from the day-to-day functioning of the local unit.

Ms Mukherjee, who is also a columnist and a classical dancer, had made a dramatic entry into politics by hitting the streets to lodge her protest against the price hike and water shortage in the city.