Maken spearheads campaign, gets Sheila pat

NEW DELHI: On a day the Congress made up its mind to appoint AICC general secretary Ajay Maken as chairperson of the Delhi poll campaign committee, Maken found support from an unusual quarter. Former chief minister Sheila Dikshit told TOI that the former union minister and MP was probably the party's best bet to take on AAP's Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi. Some political observers read this as a dare, rather than words of encouragement from a former mentor.
Dikshit, when asked about her choice for the New Delhi assembly constituency that was her turf for three terms, said she was clearly out of electoral politics and none of her family members - her former MP son Sandeep Dikshit and daughter Latika - was keen on fighting elections for now.
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"I know finding a candidate for New Delhi will be tough, but if you ask me, maybe a person of the stature of Mr Ajay Maken would be a good choice for the seat. He is a former MP from the area and knows the place well. He will be a strong candidate since Congress needs someone who knows the area and it cannot just bring anyone from outside," said Dikshit. She had Maken have for long been on opposite sides within the party.
In fact, during Dikshit's last tenure - particularly after the 2010 Commonwealth Games - whenever there was talk of the Centre exploring the possibility of finding a replacement for Dikshit, the first name to come up would be that of Maken. In fact, his name is actually being considered by the party's central election committee for the Delhi contest besides two other MPs who may be fielded to revive the party's dwindling fortunes. The other two are former union minister Krishna Tirath and former MP Mahabal Mishra.
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The party is expected to announce Maken's appointment as campaign committee chairperson on Tuesday. This is after there was speculation over the name of Dikshit. Known to be close to party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Maken is known to be on the same page on most issues as DPCC chief Arvinder Singh.
Meanwhile, the Congress election committee, chaired by Sonia Gandhi, is learnt to have reached a consensus on 39 more seats, candidates for which will be declared shortly. Breaking with tradition, the party has this time decided to announce the names of candidates early.
The party had planned to declare its candidates for all 70 seats by the time the election dates were announced but that didn't happen. It had on January 1 released its first list of 24 candidates, repeating all its eight MLAs and 12 others who were runner-ups in the 2013 assembly elections in which the party had received a drubbing, securing just eight seats.
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While the party had on November 24 decided on its pradesh election committee, manifesto committee, publicity committee and disciplinary committee for the state, a decision on the important campaign committee was kept pending.
Dikshit, about whom the party had said that she would be a key campaigner, was accommodated only as a member in the pradesh election committee, headed by Arvinder Singh. Dikshit on Monday told TOI that she would campaign if asked to do so. "My services are available and whatever the party asks me to do I will do. I am only out of electoral politics," she stressed.