AUGUST 4, 2019 • THE WEEK 57Baru is an economist and a writer. He was adviser to former prime minister Manmohan Singh.IVORY TOWER
SANJAYA BARUIVORY TOWER
SANJAYA BARUIMAGING BHASKARANI
n recent times, only Atal Bihari Vajpayee has
been a recipient of such unalloyed praise and
affection. Everyone loved Sheila Dikshit. It
was not just because she reminded most people
of their warm and cuddly grandmother, nor was
it only because she always sported a gentle smile.
Sheilaji, as most people referred to her, was a re-
markable combination of grace, grit and charm.
She was not just a popular political leader, but
also a good administrator. By the end of her first
term as chief minister of Delhi she had made her
mark.
Sheilaji’s victory in the Delhi assembly elec-
tions of 1998 was a shot in the arm for a belea-
guered Congress that was grappling with the
challenge of losing power in
1996 and of the rise of the
Bharatiya Janata Party across
north India. Her reelection
to office in 2003 made her
a star. Commenting edito-
rially on her political and
administrative performance
and promise in the Finan-
cial Express, I expressed the
opinion at that time that
Sheilaji had prime ministe-
rial potential. She could one
day lead the Congress back
to power in New Delhi.
Dikshit was horrified by my editorial endorse-
ment. “Do you want to finish me off?” she called
to ask. “I am happy being chief minister of Delhi.
Mr Baru, let me be. Please don’t get me into
trouble with praise.” That attitude of so many pro-
vincial performers of the Congress has, over the
years, left it bereft of national leaders. In 2004, the
Congress did form a government at the Centre.
Its prime minister and four top ministers—Man-
mohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, Shivraj Patil, P.
Chidambaram and Natwar Singh—were all polit-
ical lightweights in their respective provinces.
Reflecting on this fact I had once said to
Sheilaji that she should join the ManmohanSingh ministry. “Tell that to Dr Singh!” she told
me, and laughed the suggestion away. When I
then added, as an afterthought, that she should
become home minister, replacing Patil who had
become the target of much criticism even before
the Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks, she retorted,
rather uncharacteristically, “Why home? I think I
will make a good finance minister!”
I conveyed a gist of that conversation back to
the prime minister. He felt Sheilaji was needed
in Delhi to stage the Commonwealth Games.
Despite all the criticism that came her way, she
held her own and, when the Games opened, the
crowd at the opening ceremony heartily cheered
Sheilaji even as it booed many of the other organ-
isers. Sheilaji had firmly em-
bedded herself in the hearts
of every Delhiwala.
Every single obituary has
made this point. Sheilaji was
not just a charming, graceful,
genial lady whom everyone
loved, but she was a good ad-
ministrator who had speeded
up the capital city’s moderni-
sation and infrastructure de-
velopment. Few today make
any reference at all to the
charges of corruption levelled
against her government. Most
Indians are willing to live with a bit of corruption
if they get a government that delivers. Of what
use are honest governments that are uncaring
and do not deliver development?
In retrospect, I still think my Financial Express
editorial was right. Sheilaji was made of prime
ministerial timbre. She ought to have moved up
from being merely the ‘mayor’ of Delhi, which is
what a Delhi chief minister is, to becoming In-
dia’s prime minister. The Congress would not be
gasping for breath if it had allowed such locally
popular leaders to make their mark nationally.
But, that process ended in Indira Gandhi’s time.
Why blame lesser mortals?Grace and grit of Sheila Dikshit