Thursday, 6 PM. Delhi has voted and Sheila Dikshit is relaxed. 'I am confident the Congress will win most seats, if not all,' the chief minister tells MiD DAY's Daipayan Halder and Amit Kumar. She adds it is the Congress' secular credentials coupled with good governance that will bring the UPA back to power at the Centre. As for herself, Sheila says she is happy being a party worker.

Firmly in the Saddle: Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit

The last time Delhi voted, during the Assembly polls, it was Sheila Dikshit versus Vijay Kumar Malhotra. People said you had a clear advantage and you won. This time, it's between Manmohan Singh and
L K Advani. Is this a tougher fight?
In my case, there was the anti-incumbency factor. I was fighting for a third term as Delhi chief minister. In this election, I think the people of Delhi are admirers of the policies of the Congress Party and the Manmohan Singh government. People have seen development in the past five years. Moreover, Delhi is not a city where people vote on caste lines. Nor are people of the city communal. It is not like Mumbai, say, where an outfit like the Shiv Sena can divide people on communal lines. The original population of Delhi would be a miniscule minority now. There are Punjabis, Biharis, UP-ites and people from all other regions. Delhi doesn't reject anyone. And the city will vote for a government that is inclusive.

The perception that the Congress is not sincere on security didn't affect its chances during the Assembly polls in Delhi, though they took place right after the Mumbai terror attacks. Will it be a problem now?



No. I think it's not the right assessment. There are two perceptions among educated people. One is that you have to treat terrorism as a national issue. It's an attempt to disrupt the unity of India, to weaken India, to divide India. Since the matter concerns the nation, political parties should take a common view rather than blaming each other. Living in a glasshouse one must not throw stones at others. The BJP started blaming us after the terror attack forgetting that the people of Delhi have witnessed the attack on Parliament and Red Fort during the NDA tenure. Their own government let off terrorists during the Kandahar episode. We have always maintained that terrorists are a threat to society and they should be dealt with firmly. The UPA government exposed the talibanisation of Pakistan that is the root of many problems.