Longest Serving Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit Passes Away at 81

Dikshit suffered a cardiac arrest at 3:15 pm and breathed her last at 3:55 pm.

File photo of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

(Photo: Aroop Mishra/The Quint)

Senior Congress leader and former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit passed away in Delhi on Saturday, 20 July. She was 81 years old.

According to the Director of Escorts Fortis, Dr Ashok Seth, Dikshit suffered a cardiac arrest at 3:15 pm, after which she was put on ventilator. She breathed her last at 3:55 pm.

The Delhi unit of the Congress has said that her last rites will be performed on Sunday at the Nigambodh Ghat in Delhi. Her mortal remains have been kept at her residence in Nizamuddin East.

Delhi government has decided to declare a two-day mourning, said Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

Sheila Dikshit’s Tryst With Politics

Dikshit had served as the Delhi chief minister from 1998 to 2013. During her tenure, she carried out massive infrastructural development in the national capital and also launched a number of social welfare schemes with involvement of resident welfare associations as part of her participatory model of governance.

After facing a major defeat at the hands of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in 2013, she mostly backed out of active politics, but returned as the chief of the Delhi Congress unit ahead of the 2019 elections.

However, Dikshit unsuccessfully fought the recent concluded LS polls from the North-East Delhi constituency where she represented New Delhi constituency in the Delhi Vidhan Sabha.

She had also served as the Governor of Kerala in 2014 for nearly five months.

Dikshit became an MP for the first time from Kannauj Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Padesh in 1984. Dikshit was also a close associate of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and was a minister in his cabinet.

PM Modi Condoles Dikshit’s Death

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to express grief over Dikshit’s death. Remembering Dikshit as an “affable personality”, he credited her for the development which took place in Delhi.

President Ram Nath Kovind too, took to Twitter to condole Dikshit’s death, saying her “term in office was a period of momentous transformation for the capital for which she will be remembered.”

Reacting to the news of Dikshit’s death, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called her “a beloved daughter of the Congress Party” and said that he is “devastated to hear about her passing away.”

Her successor and Delhi Chief Minister took to twitter to express condolences.

Expressing condolences, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference leader Omar Abdullah took to Twitter and remembered her as a “very warm and affectionate lady.”

(With inputs from ANI)