Will Congress play Sheila Dikshit card to redeem lost glory in Delhi?

With the Assembly election in Delhi becoming a certainty now, it seems the Congress is yet indecisive about who will be the face of the Party for these elections.

The party has started looking for the same and what has been implied by the party members is that the UPA is cannot revive itself in the State without the help of the old guard. As per reports, two Congress MLAs Mateen Ahmed from Seelampur and Asif Mohd from Okhla met Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday and suggested that former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit should return to lead Congress in Delhi in the upcoming elections. Both also batted for Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar to be brought back in the state politics.

The three-term chief minister, Sheila Dikshit, now Kerala governor, was the face of the party in the December 2013 assembly polls but failed to bring the party back to power for the fourth time. Sheila suffered her worst debacle in the national capital at the hands of debutant Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal.

The Okhla MLA was quoted as saying in TOI, "I have conveyed my thoughts to the Congress president that we don't have a face that can lead the party into fresh polls right now. Sheila Dikshit led the city for 15 years and she can still be the face of the party if elections are held soon."

Congress MLAs bat for Sheila Dixit in New Delhi for upcoming Assembly elections

It's not only these MLAs but even Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh has welcomed the suggestion. "I see nothing wrong in former CM Sheila Dikshit coming into active politics in Delhi. The MLAs have shared their views and that does not mean that they want to replace me. I don't see the former CM as a challenge to my position. She is welcome," Singh, who was also a minister in Dikshit's cabinet, was quoted as saying in TOI.

If during Sheila's 15-year stint in Delhi, development took place in Delhi, then another major thing which is not to be forgotten are the scams which took place under her regime.

Keeping article 361(2) in of the Constitution which states: "No criminal proceedings whatsoever shall be instituted or continued against the President or the Governor of a State, in any court during his term of office," the party saved Dikshit by appointing her as Kerala Governor as it constitutionally shielded her.

After facing rout in the 2013 elections, the move was made by the party to save Dikshit, a loyalist to the Gandhi family from criminal cases registered against her. Cases against Sheila Dikshit are going on in the Commonwealth Games scam and also for irregularities in the Delhi Technological University admissions.

Is Sheila the only option for Congress?

The Congress at present is going through a rough patch as there is a lot of infighting going on in the party against its Central leadership. There is a divide within the party after it suffered its worst ever defeat in the Lok Sabha polls despite heavy promotions by its poster boy and vice president Rahul Gandhi. This has certainly left the party with no other option but to look upto the old guard to save the party. Thus, Congress is trying to pull out its tried and tested card to revive itself in the capital. With no other viable option, Sheila Dikshit is the only hope which might bring the lost glory back for the party.