NEW DELHI: Former chief minister Sheila Dikshit’s body was taken to the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee office for the last time, the place that was central to her politics since 1998. The truck carrying her casket remained outside the DPCC headquaters at DDU Marg for a few minutes for the local workers to pay homage to their departed leader.
Congress workers jostled to have a glimpse of their leader as the body was brought in a glass casket from her Nizaumuddin residence to 24 Akbar Road party headquarters. The truck carrying the casket moved slowly as the road was packed with supporters who chanted “Jab tak suraj chand rahega Sheila ji ka naam rahega”.
It was not accidental that Congress workers chose to compare the three-time CM’s legacy with the permanence of the sun and the moon. A Congress worker who claimed he had worked with her in the 2003 Delhi Assembly elections, said: “She was Delhi. She is Delhi. What you see in the capital, it was all done by her. It was her guidance. To cite a small example, look at the RWAs and the importance they have in basic governance. That was her doing.”
Friends, relatives and supporters remembered Dikshit as an affable person who gave the best advice in hour of need, a concerned chief minister who cared for everyone and a leader above party politics. A 51-year-old Congress supporter, said he got his head tonsured when he heard about Dikshit’s demise.
Dikshit’s friend Anastasia Gill, former Delhi minority commission member, said she will remember the leader for her strong character and determination. “She could fight back the allegations of corruption during her third term as chief minister,” Ms Gill said.
