Sheila Dikshit says she will run for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister if asked by the Congress.
Highlights
- Mrs Dikshit served three terms as Delhi Chief Minister
- Had earlier said she would not like to run for UP Chief Minister
- Congress still firming up possible role for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
"I am Uttar Pradesh's bahu (daughter-in-law)," said Sheila Dikshit, 78, confirming that she is likely to run for Chief Minister of India's largest state. "If the party wants me to do something,I will," Mrs Dikshit said, suggesting a decision is imminent: "I have told them (Congress), there is very little time left."
A few weeks ago, she had said she was not interested in the nomination after reports that Prashant Kishor, who is crafting the Congress' strategy for Uttar Pradesh, had short-listed her because she is a Brahmin, and could help win back the party's traditional upper caste supporters.
Sources have also told NDTV that the Congress is also likely to announce that for the first time, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, whose mother Sonia Gandhi and brother Rahul Gandhi are the top bosses of the Congress, will campaign outside their constituencies of Raebareli and Amethi, though it's not decided yet how many rallies or public meetings she will address. The Congress is expected to launch its campaign on the 15th.
While a section of the party bills this as 44-year-old Priyanka's formal and much-discussed debut in politics, another cautions that she has yet to confirm what sort of role she is willing to play and is unlikely to accept a formal responsibility for the bid for Uttar Pradesh, which votes next year.
Mrs Dikshit served three times as Chief Minister of Delhi before Arvind Kejriwal dismissed her with a record mandate in December 2013.
The Uttar Pradesh result will be used to extrapolate the outcome of the 2019 national election. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party is hoping for a comeback. He's up against regional heavyweight, Mayawati and the BJP, whose strategy is being handled by party president Amit Shah.
Priyanka Gandhi's last campaign in UP saw her asking voters to seek revenge from the BJP for its allegations of corruption against her husband, Robert Vadra, a controversial entrepreneur.
Mr Vadra is being investigated for a land deal in Haryana struck while the Congress governed the state. A retired judge, Justice SN Dhingra, last week abruptly sought more time to collect evidence in the inquiry that includes Mr Vadra's purchase of a plot in Gurugram near Delhi and its sale three months later for windfall gain.
The Congress and Mr Vadra have denied any wrongdoing on his part.
The BJP has said it's impossible not to conflate a larger role for Priyanka Gandhi with an acknowledgement within the Congress of the resounding failure of her brother, Rahul, in leading the party.
Rahul Gandhi, 46, led the campaign in 2014 which accrued the party's worst-ever result. Since then, the Congress has been voted out in a series of states.