From Khan Market cool cats to bright sparks at Delhi University, from energetic Residents Welfare Associations to women’s empowerment groups, from small businessmen and shop-owners to activist forums against pollution and traffic congestion, all shades of Delhi warmed to Sheila Dikshit, enormously popular three-time chief minister of Delhi, who passed away last week.
Dikshit was the ideal chief minister for the urban Indian and leaves behind a legacy of politician as citizen. She was a caste-less, community-less prototype of a leader for India’s rapidly urbanising, aspirational metros, a role model for the politician of urban India.
Educated at Convent of Jesus and Mary and Miranda House, she was a creature of the big city. She grew up in the breezy, tree-lined, austere Read More