As the results of the 2003 assembly polls trickled into the Delhi chief minister's official residence on Mathura Road, Sheila Dikshit faced another urgent issue—gifts. Earlier in the morning, she had disregarded the butterflies in her stomach to go pick up her granddaughter from the Nizamuddin railway station. Now the toddler wanted grandma to give her a gift. "It will have to be a substantial one," said Dikshit.
Dikshit, in turn, got a substantial gift later in the day, as Delhi's voters reaffirmed their faith in her leadership of the city-state. For once pollsters were right, as 'grandma' Dikshit trounced Madan Lal Khurana and his jaded saffron band.
Yet the flavour of the gift was khatta-meetha. Though she managed to repeat her 1998 landslide win, her majority came down to 47 from 52. To Dikshit loyalists, however, this is not a bad sign. They felt that the large number of seats won last time was responsible for the trouble she had to face in the assembly.
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The Congress candidate list, prepared by Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker P.M. Sayeed in consultation with Dikshit, was a predictable one. The party fielded weak candidates in places like Karawal Nagar, Babarpur and Yamuna Vihar. But many candidates whom Dikshit wanted out of the assembly managed to romp home. Choudhary Prem Singh, who had demanded her resignation in 2002, for instance, won in Ambedkar Nagar.
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While her popularity had kept her detractors from trying too many tricks, it was felt that 'quality over quantity' in the final numbers would put an end to any fear of an internal coup. This has been achieved only partly.
Yet, victory is sweet. More so because Dikshit won it on the untraditional plank of development. Since assuming power in 1998, Dikshit has taken credit for the Metro Rail, use of CNG in buses and construction of roads and flyovers. "The results are a reiteration that development and good governance can work," said Dikshit. "Issues like caste, creed and religion do not matter."
A lesson the BJP will take note of. "This is something we have to focus on in the run-up to the general elections," said Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani. "We have to focus on the achievements of the Union government."
The going could get tough for Dikshit in her second innings, however: privatisations, attempts to plug loopholes in the tax mechanism and disciplining of autorickshaw drivers will lead to run-ins with powerful lobbies. And she will have to take on the Centre over control of the Delhi Police and the proposed modification of construction bye-laws.
Dikshit's own road map for the future is housing. "Affordable housing is an area I want to concentrate on [this]... time," she told THE WEEK. Delhi's middle class is hoping that she will deliver on their long wish-list of gifts—uninterrupted power, better water supply, cleaner streets.