‘People Know What The Congress And BJP Are. They Don’t Know AAP.’

Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit is making a bid for the gaddi for the fourth time. She talks to Panini Anand about not giving up the fight:

Why should people vote for you the fourth time and put the Congress in government?

It’s a fair question. It should be posed to the people. In the last three elections, they chose the Congress.

Fifteen years is a long time to have led a state. What are the challenges ahead?

Delhi has changed in these 15 years; in other cities, these changes would have taken many decades. Delhi is varied, vibrant and cosmopolitan. It has many firsts—the Metro, a good health service, good education, good growth rate. But the city needs water and housing, especially for the poor. Traffic management is also a challenge.

As a woman CM, how do you feel when everyone says women are unsafe in Delhi?

It’s tragic that women feel like this. There is a sense of not feeling safe in the capital city. But what can I do when the police is not under me but under the Centre. Maybe the Centre feels the Delhi government is incapable of handling the security of important international and national agencies—embassies, national institutions and leaders etc—and that’s why the police is under the Centre despite our requests.

Who’s your opponent, the BJP or the AAP?

The BJP has a strong base. As far as AAP is concerned, I don’t understand what it is and I don’t think people understand what it is.

You mean in terms of the AAP’s ideology?

No, no. People know what the Congress and the BJP are. They don’t know what AAP is.

But look at the AAP’s campaign. Is baar chalegi jhaadu...it’s a clear challenge.

People seek governance, education, health. What does the AAP—or for that matter, the BJP—have to offer?

The anti-graft protests, the Lokpal movement that Delhi witnessed indicated disillusionment with you. What do you say?

Who is not concerned about corruption?

Delhi is the first to implement food security measures. But reports suggest there is confusion on the ground. Do you think its timing is not helping you in the state?

It’s a national law; it’s the duty of the states to implement it. I don’t think there’s need for scepticism about the implementation. In less than a month, we’ll reach every beneficiary—99 per cent of the people have been registered under Aadhar.

Do you think you will win fewer seats?

No. I can assure you my party and I will return with more seats.

What do you say of migrants? The census says Delhi’s population has gone up 24 per cent from 2001 to 2011.

Let me be fair. They come because they need jobs; and they get jobs because there are jobs. We need them. The problem is that land is limited. We need more land to accommodate them.

You promised housing and regularisation of slums. It’s still not done.

Some projects are done, some are being done.

You’ve been CM thrice in a row. Do you have national ambitions, like Modi?

I’m not the Gujarat CM or the Madhya Pra­d­esh CM. I do what my party asks me to.