'It hurts when your proteges turn against you'

Q&A: Sheila Dixit

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit talks about her detractors, Sonia Gandhi and why she feels she is back to where she began...

Admittedly, 2006 has been a bad year for you, with the sealing and demolition drive. How did you cope with it?

It was a traumatic year what with the sealing imbroglio and the confusion that went with it. The sealing issue was complicated because, let's face it, politics got into it, the courts suddenly became active in what was a 23-year-old case, and the two institutions that could actually do something on the issue, the DDA and the MCD, went into panic mode.

Their reactions were panicky, ad hoc and there was a lot of confusion on the ground. The Delhi government had actually nothing to do with the sequence of events but I do admit that we faced much of the political brunt of the sealing drive. But we are over the hump and hopefully things will improve.

Do you feel that you were unfairly targeted by your political rivals on the issue?

Well, at a certain level, I feel that is true. It was painful and I had to bear it. At another level, the general public felt it had elected a government and the government had to be responsible.

The fact that land and the police force are not controlled by the Delhi government but by multiple agencies and that the sealing drive was mostly court driven was too subtle a point to be made when people were facing unemployment and the prospect of losing their homes and shops.

We were elected by the people and had to face their ire, which I understand completely. In all honesty, I can't blame the people of Delhi for that. And indeed it was our anguish at this ire that ensured that the Master Plan 2021 was discussed in the Delhi Assembly and as many as 120 of our suggestions were considered by the Master Plan board.

After running strongly for the last eight years, there is a perception that your stock is going down and that you are yet again beset by dissidence?

Well, that it true. I feel, I face exactly the same position as I did in my first term, having to battle perceptions of being an outsider to the city's politics and also detractors within the party. Having said that, when it comes to facing the people against a common rival, the party does a good job of coming together especially during elections. We are seeing that in the seriousness in which the Congress is pursuing the Master Plan 2021, and the upcoming MCD polls. The Congress has always overcome these obstacles when it really matters.

In the last couple of years, you also had to face the unseemly scenario where your own proteges turned against you?

Yes. It is disappointing in the extreme. I brought in younger dynamic people into the party and trained them because I felt that I am not going to be around forever and political work must go on. It really hurts when people you trust and whose loyalty you count on turn against you. But I also feel that in the final analysis, it hurts the so called proteges more. Don't you think? The people know everything, its difficult to fool them. They know where you come from and what you stand for.

How would you characterise your relationship with Sonia Gandhi? There is a perception that you are not as close to her as before? How often do you meet her?

I don't know how such a perception has gained ground. She has always stood by me through thick and thin, and I hope I have never disappointed her.

As for meeting her, I meet her whenever I feel there is a need to. I try not to impede on her time as she is an extremely busy person. These stories are spread by vested interests, people who want to create trouble and instability. My presence and continuance as chief minister here should show these people that I am firm in my commitment to never let her down. As far as I remember, except for the 1999 Lok Sabha elections when Congress did badly in Delhi, I have kept my commitment.

Coming back to the Master Plan 2021, what is you main recommendation to the government?

Well, both the Master Plan concept and the DMC Act governing local government were brought into force in 1957, exactly 50 years ago. Delhi has changed, its needs have changed, people's demands have changed. My main point is to please leave the people alone.

Sure, there should be broad guidelines as to the common land, to make sure there is no encroachment, what should be the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) but don't interfere with what is done inside the house. Who are we to say on which floor should an accounting firm come up or a shop come up? A little less government would help.

The DDA had so much land, and a mandate as well, when it did not develop the housing for which land had been acquired there was encroachment on the land. Had they had a mere regulatory role earlier the problem of encroachment would not have been so acute.

Do you see yourself as the chief ministerial candidate for the Congress in the next Assembly polls in the state?

Oh no please! Its too far away to even think about right now. I'm concentrating on the election that is upon us, which is the local Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections, after that the Assembly polls. In that, the breaking up of municipal wards has had a good effect, and we are getting positive feedback. But we are also prepared to face the ire generated by the sealing and demolition drive.

Final question: If you were asked to change three things about yourself, what would those be?

Well I have always wanted to be more disciplined in my routine. Connected to that is also the fact that I procrastinate when it comes to certain unpleasant decisions or confrontations that I wish to avoid, in order to prevent an unpleasant situation from developing. I wish I could change that and not shy away from these things. And finally I really wish I could be technology savvy. I'm completely at odds with electronic equipment and I really wish I could use them easily.