5 Facts About Sandeep Dikshit, Congress Candidate Against Arvind Kejriwal

Sandeep Dikshit, the son of Delhi's former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, will contest the 2025 Assembly elections from the New Delhi seat on a Congress ticket. Mr Dikshit, a two-time Parliamentarian, will take on AAP boss Arvind Kejriwal, who defeated Sheila Dikshit from this seat in 2013 and 2015. 

5 facts about Sandeep Dikshit:

1) Born on August 15, 1964, to Sheila Dikshit and Vinod Dikshit in Lucknow, Sandeep Dikshit completed his BA (Hons) in History from St Stephen's College in 1985. He followed it up with a Master's degree in History and has a Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Management from the Institute for Rural Management in Gujarat.

2) Before entering politics, he founded Sanket, a social development group, helping create a sub-national Human Development Report for Madhya Pradesh. He also spent 15 years working with voluntary organisations across northern, central and western India, especially in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

3) Mr Dikshit was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 2004, and he retained the seat for another term in 2009. He was the Chief Whip of the Congress Party from 2012-2014 and has also served as the National Spokesperson of the party in the past.

4) In June 2019, Sandeep Dikshit sparked a controversy after he compared the behaviour of the late Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, to that of a “goon on the street". Later, he apologised for the remark. He's also been a vocal critic of Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party.

5) Mr Dikshit is an Adjunct faculty at OP Jindal Global University, Sonepat. He teaches human development and public policy.