I will go to UP polls with conviction and confidence: Sheila Dikshit

Making a comeback to active politics after a gap of two-and-a-half years, former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Thursday said, as Congress' chief ministerial face she would go into the Uttar Pradesh polls with conviction and confidence, to resurrect the party's fortunes in the state.

Thanking the Congress leadership for giving her the big responsibility, 78-year-old Dikshit said Priyanka Gandhi could be a very big asset for the party, whose workers want her to campaign vigorously in the state where polls are slated during early 2017.

Dikshit, who led Congress to three consecutive victories in Delhi Assembly polls in 1998, 2003 and 2008 before facing a humiliating drubbing in 2013, said she was ready for the big fight in the politically crucial state, where demand for Congress' return to power was rising.

She also said both Priyanka and Rahul gandhi can play an important role in the UP polls but any final decision will have to be taken by the Congress high command.

After the crushing defeat in Delhi assembly in December 2013, Dikshit was almost out of active politics.

She was appointed the governor of Kerala by the UPA government in March 2014, just before the model code of conduct came into force for the Lok Sabha polls, and she had resigned from the post in August that year.

Asked how she will help the party in UP where it had lost support base significantly, Dikshit said, "Every election is a challenge. Sometimes it is big, sometimes small. And all challenges are not the same. Challenge is big in UP and we will go into the elections with the conviction that we are certainly going to win."

On Priyanka Gandhi's possible role, Dikshit said she would like her to campaign across the state.

"All Congress workers want her to campaign as she is very popular among the people. I do hope that she will make up her mind to campaign," said Dikshit.

Asked whether Priyanka was undecided about campaigning in the state, Dikshit said, "I do not know".

On whether she was initially reluctant about taking the responsibility, Dikshit said it was a very, very big responsibility, adding, "When you take a very big responsibility, you feel jittery."

Asked about Delhi's Anti-Corruption Branch sending a notice asking her to join the investigation in connection with the alleged Rs 400-crore water tanker scam, Dikshit said, "The allegations are politically motivated. There is no evidence."

Dikshit is the daughter-in-law of UP Congress veteran, late Uma Shankar Dikshit, a tall Brahmin leader who had served as a Union minister and governor for a long time.

The Congress feels making Dikshit, a Brahmin, the face of the campaign in Uttar Pradesh will help the party win back support of the community.

The Brahmin community, a traditional vote bank of Congress, had shifted allegiance to the Bharatiya Janata Party in the aftermath of the Mandir-Mandal politics.

A large chunk of Brahmin votes had also gone to the Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party in the past when she gave tickets to many candidates belonging to the community.

Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is in charge of party affairs in Uttar Pradesh, said Dikshit was chosen as party's face for the polls considering her strong credentials as the Chief Minister of Delhi for three consecutive terms.