INTERVIEW | 'No question of forming alliance with ruling AAP': Sheila Dikshit
In a candid conversation, Congress veteran Sheila Dikshit tells Somrita Ghosh that she didn’t expect a washout in the LS polls
Published: 28th May 2019 06:42 AM | Last Updated: 28th May 2019 11:36 AM | A+A A-
Former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit (File Photo | EPS)
Did you expect such results from this election in Delhi?
We were expecting much better results. We didn’t expect this outcome. We are anticipating that something went wrong with the system (in the Congress).
Had you anticipated that BJP would win with such large margins? That they would corner all seven seats?
No, we did not expect that BJP would make a clean sweep in Delhi. We were very much confident of winning three to four seats, and that’s what we were expecting right up to the end. And not only the Congressmen thought the same, others expected it as well.
Congress came second, better than AAP. Is it because the coalition with AAP didn’t happen?
We work according to what the situation demands. We try and work on that. We did with whatever we didn’t have. The Gathbandhan (coalition) did not happen, and we did whatever we could do. But unfortunately and eventually that didn’t seemed to have worked in Delhi’s election scenario. We need to go deep into what went wrong. We need to work on it and put up a committee. Once the committee is done, we can evaluate what could be the possible reasons of our losing the way we did.
Delhi will see elections next year. BJP has already said it is looking for a win. AAP is also making moves.
Have you decided on what is going to be Congress course of action?
We haven’t started yet on Delhi elections. The Lok Sabha results came just a few days ago and we had a meeting yesterday at CWC. We had a meeting today, and we weren’t complacent of our outcome. We will see what should be done to ensure that we come back again to power in 2020 in Delhi.
Will Congress be keen on going for a coalition with AAP in Delhi Assembly?
AAP ke saath gathbandhan ki koi baat hi nahi hai (There is no question of forming a coalition with AAP).
Did you get a chance to evaluate a bit of the reasons behind the result?
Pura evaluation nahi hua hai (We haven’t completed evaluation), and where we went wrong. We will form a committee of five members to enquire in depth the reasons behind the defeat of Congress candidates. The report is likely to come in 10 days.
There were talks that you might resign from your post. Have you considered about it seriously?
I cannot tell you this right now. I haven’t made up my mind yet (regarding the decision).
