The daughter of former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is likely to make her political debut in the upcoming Assembly elections in the Capital.
According to leaders privy to the party’s electoral strategy for the polls, Latika Dikshit Syed wants to jump into the fray from the New Delhi constituency “to avenge her mother’s humiliating defeat at the hands of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal last December”.
Ms. Dikshit, in her early 40s, is a trained social worker. Her brother Sandeep Dikshit, former Lok Sabha MP from East Delhi, is understood to have played ‘a major role’ in convincing Ms. Syed to throw her hat in the political ring even as he held himself back from doing the same, according to party sources.
Meanwhile, the party’s Central leadership, insiders said, was ‘more or less convinced about’ putting its weight behind Ms. Syed for a variety of reasons ‘at the moment’.
These range from her training in social work to her image as ‘an adequately experienced though young and dynamic leader’.
“Her potential candidature has gone well with national vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who is in favour of younger leadership for our Delhi unit, and is convinced that she is a party worker with her ear to the ground,” said a senior party leader.
Another party leader attributed Ms. Syed’s potential candidature to her family’s long-standing ties with the Gandhi family in addition to her ‘secular credentials’ given her inter-community marital status.
