“You need to know how to get things done”: Sandeep Dikshit
“Sheila-ji also had disagreements with the LG... but work never stopped. Kejriwal has conflicts with everyone,” says the Congress candidate
Delhi is headed for assembly elections on 5 February. Though often described as a ‘half-state’ because power is shared with the Centre, it is always in the spotlight. It is, after all, the national capital and the headquarters of the big boys of mainstream media.
The Aam Aadmi Party, which has ruled this ‘half-state’ since 2013 — on its own since 2015 — is facing the heat of anti-incumbency. Questions are being asked about its unfulfilled promises, its tendency to overcommit and underdeliver, and corruption in government.
The media is projecting this as a race between AAP and the BJP, not expecting the Congress to make significant inroads. But even its rivals concede in private conversations that the grand old party’s campaign is looking sharper this time, that it has good candidates in the fray and that it may yet make a good fist of it.
The New Delhi constituency will see the most high-profile battle of all, pitting AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal against Parvesh Verma of the BJP and Sandeep Dikshit of the Congress, both sons of former chief ministers — Sahib Singh Verma and Sheila Dikshit, respectively.
In this battle of heavyweights, Sandeep Dikshit compels attention with his quiet conviction, his modesty and the way he fights the bluster of his rivals with facts. He has been an MP (from East Delhi) but has no hesitation in admitting he is better known as ’Sheila Dikshit’s son‘.
Excerpts from a conversation with Syed Khurram Raza...
Some say your contest with Kejriwal is about settling scores for the wild allegations he levelled against your mother, while others say for a former MP, this is a demotion...
Neither is true. This is just another political battle, and it should be seen as such.
Do you think highlighting your mother’s work in Delhi could be a gamechanger?
I’m not highlighting my mother’s work; I’m presenting to the people the work done by the Congress. People do remember her and recall the work done on her watch, but then she did what the Congress party wanted to do for the people. Using her name and identifying me as her son certainly gives us some advantage.
What do you make of the media’s assessment that the Congress is not really in the race and is contesting only to ensure the AAP’s defeat?
There is no truth in this. Yes, we’ll take away more votes from the Aam Aadmi Party, but the Congress will also attract a lot of disenchanted BJP voters who feel AAP was not serious about development. They will vote for the Congress because they seem to trust neither AAP nor the BJP.
When the AAP contested the election in Delhi, people didn’t ask why they were cutting into the Congress’ votes. These are not questions from the people, they are raised by the party that wants to cling to power. AAP has ruined things in Delhi. How can we allow a party to win that has done nothing for the people of Delhi?
Did Kejriwal make critical mistakes in not standing with the people protesting the CAA and NRC, by remaining silent on the riots in northeast Delhi and blaming the Tablighi Jamaat for spreading the Covid-19 pandemic?
It was not a mistake — he simply does not believe in these things. For him, Muslims are just voters, and he knows they might vote for him to keep the BJP out. Whenever he is in a tight corner, he raises the spectre of the BJP winning.
In my opinion, AAP is as communal as the BJP. True secularism is not about distancing ourselves from religion, it is about sarva dharma sambhava. If we celebrate Diwali, Navratri and visit temples, we also visit our friends who celebrate Eid. Have you ever seen Kejriwal visit ‘Phool Walon Ki Sair’? (It’s a three-day annual festival of flower sellers, held in south Delhi’s Mehrauli area, celebrated by Hindus and Muslims alike, in a spirit of communal harmony.)
What are the issues that you are raising this time?
Kejriwal has not done any work in the New Delhi constituency itself, forget about Delhi or NCT (National Capital Territory). He has failed to perform as an MLA in his own constituency. The people are very disappointed and are pointing this out to us. They have a long memory, and they believe the Congress was the party that did the work.
People are in distress and are raising the issues of inflation and unemployment. When the Congress was in power, temporary workers in the MCD used to get jobs. When a government worker died, their family members got jobs. Jobs were provided in business and industries. The poor got homes. Many households, including educated families, have one or two unemployed members, which is very worrying. Unemployment is clearly becoming a huge threat even in the national capital. These families believe that if any political party is trying to help, it is the Congress.
That’s why we repeatedly emphasise how we can help them. The people of Delhi feel that no development work has been done in the city. They hold AAP and the BJP equally responsible for inflation and unemployment. They believe that if the Congress comes to power in Delhi, much can be achieved. The people of Delhi want change because the situation in Delhi has worsened.
Do you think the Congress alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party in 2013 and ahead of the general election in 2024 was a mistake?
The Delhi alliance in 2013 was a mistake. But the national alliance of 2024 did have an impact; the BJP lost many seats, and it appeared that the Opposition was united, so people supported it. It benefited us.
Apart from the five guarantees announced by the Congress, what wouuld your priorities be if you come to power?
Substantially reducing air pollution and water pollution is one of our top priorities because there has been no work done in these areas. We also need to work on reducing unemployment. Delhi has a service industry, and if the government develops infrastructure in Delhi, it will help reduce unemployment, and Delhi will become a service hub. These are two or three of our main priorities.
How will the Congress work without confrontation with the lieutenant governor and the Centre if it comes to power?
The first thing is to try and do the job. I don’t think Kejriwal ever tried to work. Sheilaji also had disagreements with the LG (lieutenant governor), whether appointed by the Congress or the BJP, but work never stopped. Kejriwal has conflicts with everyone.
You need to know how to get things done, you need to go out and make it happen.
How can a person who does not meet his own MLAs get anything done with others? It is not possible that every LG during the past 12 years was wrong, every police commissioner was bad and every chief secretary inimical.
He [Kejriwal] does not get along with anyone—not the lieutenant governor nor the chief secretary nor the police commissioner nor any IAS officer. The question to ask him is: ‘Who do you like?’
He fights with everyone. If you throw files at an officer’s face, he’s not going to work for you. He is a government employee, not your personal servant.
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