Sheila Dikshit () (née Kapoor; 31 March 1938 – 20 July 2019) was an Indian politician. The longest-serving chief minister of Delhi, as well as the longest-serving female chief minister in Indian history, she served for a period of 15 years beginning in 1998. Dikshit led the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

party to three consecutive electoral victories in Delhi. Dikshit lost the December 2013 elections of the

Delhi Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi is the unicameral legislature of the union territory of Delhi in India. Delhi Legislative Assembly is the legislative arm of the Government of Delhi. At present, it consists ...

to the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

, though

Aam Aadmi Party The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP, ) is a List of political parties in India, political party in India. It was founded on 26 November 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal and his then-companions, following the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement against then gover ...

formed a minority government with outside support from the INC, with

Arvind Kejriwal Arvind Kejriwal (; born 16 August 1968) is an Indian politician, activist and former bureaucrat, who served as the 7th Chief Minister of Delhi. He was the chief minister from 2013 to 2014 and from 2015 to 2024. He is also the national conve ...

as the chief minister. She briefly served as the

Governor of Kerala The governor of Kerala is the constitutional head of state of the southern Indian state of Kerala. The governor is appointed by the President of India, and holds office at the President's pleasure. The governor is ''de jure'' head of the govern ...

in 2014. Dikshit was later declared a chief ministerial candidate for the

in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, but withdrew her nomination (

Akhilesh Yadav Akhilesh Yadav (; born 1 July 1973) is an Indian politician and national president of the Samajwadi Party who served as the 20th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Having assumed the chief minister's office on 15 March 2012 at the age of 38, he ...

were announced as candidate). She was appointed president of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee on 10 January 2019 to led general election in Delhi and remained in office until her death in July later that year.

Early years

Sheila Kapoor was born on 31 March 1938 in the city of Kapurthala in the Kapurthala Princely State of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(now in

Punjab, India Punjab () is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states ...

) into a Punjabi Hindu

Khatri Khatri () is a caste system in India, caste originating from the Malwa (Punjab), Malwa and Majha areas of Punjab region of South Asia that is predominantly found in India, but also in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Khatris claim they are war ...

family. Her father's name was Sanjay Kapoor. She was educated at the Convent of Jesus and Mary School in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

and graduated with a Master of Arts degree in history from the Miranda House at the

University of Delhi The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

Political career

Sheila Dikshit was handpicked by

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian statesman and pilot who served as the prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the Assassination of Indira Gandhi, assassination of his mother, then–prime ...

to be part of his council of ministers after he became the prime minister in 1984. During the period between 1984 and 1989, she represented

Kannauj Kannauj (Hindustani language, Hindustani pronunciation: ) is an ancient city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar palika, Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Ut ...

parliamentary constituency of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

. As a member of Parliament, she served on the Estimates Committee of

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

. Dikshit also chaired the Implementation Committee for Commemoration of Forty Years of India's Independence and

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

centenary. She represented India at United Nations Commission on Status of Women for five years (1984–1989). She also served as a Union Minister during 1986–1989, first as the

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

for Parliamentary Affairs and later as a minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office. In Uttar Pradesh, she and her 82 colleagues were jailed in August 1990 for 23 days by the state government when she led a movement against the atrocities being committed against women. Earlier, in the early 1970s, she was chairperson of the Young Women's Association and was instrumental in the setting up of two of the most successful hostels for working women in Delhi. She was also the secretary of the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust. In the 1998 parliamentary elections, Dikshit was defeated by

's Lal Bihari Tiwari in

East Delhi East Delhi is an administrative district of Delhi in India. It is bounded by the Yamuna River on the west, North East Delhi to the north, Ghaziabad district, India, Ghaziabad District of Uttar Pradesh state to the east, and Gautam Buddha Nagar ...

constituency. Later in the year, Dikshit became Chief Minister of Delhi, a position she held until 2013. Dikshit represented the Gole Market assembly constituency in the 1998 and 2003 Assembly elections and New Delhi constituency from 2008. In 2009 and 2013, Dikshit was investigated for alleged misuse of government funds, but no charges were brought. Her party was wiped out in the 2013 Delhi Legislative Assembly election and

, founder of the

, won the election in the New Delhi Assembly constituency by a margin of 25,864 votes. She resigned on 8 December 2013, but remained the caretaker chief minister of Delhi until the new government was sworn in on 28 December 2013. She was appointed the

governor of Kerala The governor of Kerala is the constitutional head of state of the southern Indian state of Kerala. The governor is appointed by the President of India, and holds office at the President's pleasure. The governor is ''de jure'' head of the govern ...

in March 2014, but was forced to resign five months later. She contested the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections as the candidate for

in the North East Delhi Constituency but came second after

's Manoj Tiwari.

Personal life

Dikshit was married to Vinod Dikshit, son of independence activist and former West Bengal governor Uma Shankar Dikshit from Unnao. He was an officer in the

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the Public administration, administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. The IAS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian ...

. Dikshit was the mother of two children: a son, Sandeep Dikshit, who is a former member of Parliament of the 15th Lok Sabha from

, and a daughter, Latika Dikshit, who was married to Syed Mohammad Imran, an architect. Dikshit underwent

angioplasty Angioplasty, also known as balloon angioplasty and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, is a minimally invasive procedure, minimally invasive endovascular surgery, endovascular Medical procedure, procedure used to widen narrowed or obstructe ...

in November 2012. In 2018, she had heart surgery in University Hospital in Lille, France.

Death

Dikshit was admitted to Fortis Escorts Heart Institute on 19 July 2019 for

cardiac arrhythmia Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, are irregularities in the heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. Essentially, this is anything but normal sinus rhythm. A resting heart rate that is too fast – above 100 beat ...

and was put on a ventilator within a few moments of her admission. Her condition stabilised temporarily, however she did not recover from multiple cardiac arrests and her condition worsened during the following period. She later died at 3:55 pm on 20 July 2019, at the age of 81. The Delhi government announced a two-day mourning period on her death, and accorded her a state funeral.

Awards and recognition

* 2008 Best Chief Minister of India, by Journalist Association of India * 2009 Politician of the Year by NDTV * 2010 Dara Shikoh award by Indo-Iran Society * 2013 Delhi Women of the Decade Achievers Award 2013 by ALL Ladies League for Outstanding Public Service.

Gallery

File:Kerala Governor Sheila Dixit meets PM Modi.jpg, Dikshit meets Prime Minister Modi. File:The Chief Minister of Delhi Smt. Sheila Dikshit handing over the Olympic Torch to the President.jpg, Sheila Dikshit handing over the Olympic Torch to Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi at the beginning of the Olympic Torch Relay in 2004

References

External links

Official profile, Government of Delhi website
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dikshit, Sheila 1938 births 2019 deaths Chief ministers of Delhi Governors of Kerala Delhi University alumni Indian National Congress politicians from Delhi People from Kapurthala Women in Punjab, India politics Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh India MPs 1984–1989 Women chief ministers of Indian states Delhi MLAs 2008–2013 Chief ministers from Indian National Congress Women state governors of India Women members of the Delhi Legislative Assembly Women in Kerala politics 20th-century Indian women politicians 21st-century Indian women politicians Women members of the Lok Sabha People from Kannauj district Punjabi women Delhi MLAs 1998–2003 Delhi MLAs 2003–2008 Presidents of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee Union ministers of state of India Women union ministers of state of India