Riding high on power reforms

During her campaign, Dikshit stressed she could only change what she had control over. When the Delhi government that was charged with laxity in law and order leading to the rape not just of a Swiss diplomat, but also of an 8-year-old girl, Dikshit retort was that as a woman, she felt the pain of a woman's humiliation.

But the Delhi Police was not under her control. At an election meeting she said: "When the recent rape case of a foreign diplomat happened, I was shocked. I have been asking for complete statehood for Delhi. Give us power and we will show you the change." Women were a special target group of the Congress during the campaign.

Management of the power situation in the Capital will be the Congress government's other priority. The Congress claims that it privatised the power distribution system and the power situation improved during the last year of the five-year tenure. But Dikshit admits that even now, consumption (demand) is more than supply.

During the campaign, the party promised the replacement of the outdated Indraprastha thermal plant by a new gas-based power plant and the setting up of a new 1,000 Mw gas-based plant in Bawana, for which both BSES and Tata Power have shown interest.

Also, three naphtha-based power plants with 50 Mw to 100 Mw capacity at Dwarka, Kondli Gharoli and Narela are in the pipeline. How soon the government will be able to do this remains to be seen.

On the tricky issue of unauthorised colonies, the party announced it would regularise colonies and constructions, which came into existence before March 31, 1998. But what about the unauthorised colonies that have sprung up after that? No one from the Congress has made any promises, so the vote banks that these colonies represent will be up for grabs as the Lok Sabha polls come closer.

Water is another issue. Because pipes have not been upgraded, nearly 30 per cent of water is lost in the transportation. Delhi needs 800 million gallons. It gets 630 million gallon. The Sonia Vihar project will add more than 100 million gallons. But the water needs of the Capital will have to be addressed.

Now that the Metro rail is on course, and the Delhi electorate has demonstrated it believes Dikshit is responsible for bringing the Metro to Delhi, the pressure on public transport will have to be addressed.

The party had committed itself to an early and drastic improvement to end the "present chaos" in the transport system. But the transport mafia has links with prominent legislators and the entire sector is riddled with vested interests. Dikshit will need all the tact at her command to handle this problem.

The greatest challenge for her government in the next five years is going to be the preparations for the Commonwealth Games, to be held in Delhi in 2010, which is likely to involve several thousand crores' expenditure on Delhi.

While responsibility of creating the infrastructure for the games rests with the Centre, it is the state government that will have a say in its administration. If Dikshit can claim the credit for turning her dream into a reality - of making Delhi a truly international city - she could be heading for a third term in five years.

Delhi

Most likely to do...

Start a campaign for statehood of Delhi

Push the Bhagidari initiative aggressively

Start talks on augmenting Delhi's power position

Least likely to do...

Start downsizing, something the Delhi govt badly needs

Start reforms in the public transport sector

Allow the party to muscle in and tell her how to run the govt

First task: Consolidating the MLAs and choosing ministers from among the factionalised Delhi Congress