Professor Piyush Kant Dikshit was today appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of Uttarakhand Sanskrit University, Haridwar.
Currently a professor at Shree Lal Bahadur Shastri Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, New Delhi, Dikshit has been appointed to the post for three years or till the age of superannuation of 65 whichever is earlier, a Raj Bhawan release here said.
The appointment has been made by Uttarakhand Governor Krishna Kant Paul, it said.
Asked whether she has been selected because of her
Brahmin background, Dikshit said it was one reason but the "real reason was my performance in Delhi".
On perception that many people in Uttar Pradesh still do not relate to her, Dikshit said she was a familiar face in the state because of her performance in Delhi.
"Yes, I have not been associated with UP's politics but it is not that they do not know about me. They know that I am somebody who has done very well in Delhi.
"There must be hardly any family in UP which does not have somebody or the other either coming to Delhi once in a while or having shifted to Delhi. I am not an unfamiliar face. But yes the kind of familiarity of a person whose politics has been in UP is not there. But I do not think it will matter," she said.
Born in a Punjabi Khatri family, Dikshit is the daughter-in-law of late Congress veteran from UP 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 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 BJP in the aftermath of the Mandir-Mandal politics.
A large chunk of Brahmin votes had also gone to Mayawati's BSP in the past when she gave tickets to many candidates belonging to the community.
The community's support determines the poll outcome in several seats in central and eastern UP.
