Sheila Dikshit looks at Central role, eyes Rajya Sabha seat

While she was looking at a Central role she had recently admitted she would not be contesting Lok Sabha polls

Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit who is virtually out in the wilderness after the Delhi Assembly debacle losing her own seat to AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, is now eyeing a Rajya Sabha berth. The poll for vacancies in the upper house will take on February 7. While Dikshit was looking at a Central role she had recently admitted that she would not be contesting the Lok Sabha polls. Haryana and Himachal Pradesh two states from where she was hoping to get a berth are reportedly not too keen on accommodating her.    

Speaking to Business Standard Dikshit had said, “Am definitely not fighting the Lok Sabha polls” but significantly had not ruled out a role for herself at the Centre. So with Rajya Sabha vacancies coming up in 16 states, Dikshit was keen on making it through either neighbouring Haryana or Himachal Pradesh. While Haryana had two vacancies, Himachal has one vacancy.

 
In Haryana, which goes into Assembly polls next year, the state unit was not willing to give out one of its Rajya Sabha seats to an outsider from the state. In Himachal the state PCC chief Sukshwinder Singh Sukhu himself was attempting to contest the sole Rajya Sabha seat from the seat. However as chief minister Virbhadra Singh was not too eager for Sukhu as candidate, Dikshit’s chances say Congress sources cannot be entirely ruled out.

Diskhit ironically who was at the helm in Delhi for 15 years and brought Congress to power for three successive terms, finds herself out in the cold. She has been named as one among the 28 members of the reconstituted Delhi Pradesh election committee for the Lok Sabha polls.

Looking at how crucial these Rajya Sabha polls have become in the run up to the general elections, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi is slated to hold a meeting with all concerned state unit chiefs, Legislature party leaders and general secretaries on Saturday.