No matter what the differences, in politics there should be scope for engagement between different ideologies as embodied by Sheila Dikshit
 

The sudden demise of veteran Congress leader Sheila Dikshit came as a bolt from the blue. Though she was not in the pink of health as she kept fighting heart ailments, she was pulling along very well and one had not expected such a sudden end. Dikshit and I belonged to two different political parties, but having worked with her for a long time in the Delhi Assembly, I decided to pay my tributes to her.

On reaching her residence, I could see the security bandobast for the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In this era of bitter political rivalries, the Prime Minister showed a real large heart in paying a visit to Dikshit’s Nizamuddin residence. The next day, BJP president and Union Home Minister Amit Shah joined the family at Dikshit’s cremation at the CNG crematorium at the Nigam Bodh Ghat. Other important BJP leaders like former Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, too, visited Dikshit’s home and paid tributes.

 In Bhopal, the city with which Dikshit had a deep connection, BJP leaders created a ruckus in the Assembly after raising the issue of the failure of the Treasury benches in paying tributes to the departed leader. This was very surprising as the State is currently being ruled by the Congress and Chief Minister Kamal Nath, who had worked closely with Dikshit. My argument in citing these cases is that the charge often brought by the Opposition against the BJP leadership that they don’t extend courtesy to their political rivals is unfounded.

I say this because as a member of the Delhi Assembly alongside Dikshit for 10 years between 1998 and 2008, I saw the courtesy the BJP leaders extended to her. They were also appreciative of the development schemes introduced by her. Right at the beginning of her tenure, Dikshit faced a few functional problems with her chief secretary Omesh Saigal. To drop Saigal from her team was not in her hands as the cadre control of the then Union Territory officers rested with the Ministry of Home Affairs. At that time, the BJP was in power at the Centre. The bureaucrat was known to be close to former Chief Minister and BJP’s prominent face Madanlal Khurana. Dikshit took her chance and went and met the then Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani.

Khurana got a whiff of it and pleaded against transferring Saigal to the Centre. But Advani decided to go with the advice of the Chief Minister. The six years that Dikshit had dealt with a BJP Government at the Centre were actually much smoother for her. The then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, given the Uttar Pradesh connection, always treated her like a younger sister. Following Dikshit’s death, we saw a lot of reports and articles talking about the era of development which dawned on the city during her tenure as the Chief Minister. A deeper analysis will show that all her major projects, including the hosting of the Commonwealth Games, were sanctioned during the Vajpayee Government.

She was successful because, in the Assembly, she faced constructive criticism from the BJP benches. The share of negativism for her work came from the Congress’ rank and file. Leaving aside a few, almost all the leaders in the grand old party were opposed to her and indulged in blatant hooliganism. Personally, I was critical of many of her projects. My job as the head of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) demanded that I assess the audit reports of Government projects, including Dikshit’s. It’s a mechanism which the likes of Sardar Patel and BR Ambedkar created during the Constituent Assembly debates.

In a parliamentary democracy, the job of the members of legislative committees is as important as those of the Ministers and each MLA should discharge his/her duty with responsibility and honesty.

Overcoming political differences, she took a keen interest in the evolution and growth of the Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies. She took out time to visit the campus and interact with the students and faculty members. I had visited her last winter on hearing about her indifferent health. We talked leaving behind political differences. That’s how politics should be. There should be scope for dialogue between leaders of different political ensigns. Talent from every team should be used to promote the cause of the people. I am glad that our Prime Minister and BJP president are maintaining that legacy of establishing a dialogue.

(The writer is a former MLA and Chairman, Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, GGSIP University, New Delhi)