LS poll: Cong to play up Dikshit's work in door-to-door campaign

NEW DELHi: Preparing for the big Lok Sabha battle just months away, the Congress will embark on a door-to-door campaign from next week highlighting the development work done by three-time Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit (1998-2013) even as it expects some leaders who had deserted it to come back.

Former Delhi Commission of Women Chairperson Barkha Singh Shukla and former Union Minister Krishna Tirath and others are likely to join Congress well ahead of the Lok Sabha . They had left the party after questioning the working of then party city unit Chief Ajay Maken, a party leader, who did not want to be named, said.

He said that Shukla has had talks with the Congress leadership in the past few days and soon an announcement may be made.

On Shukla, he said that she has worked closely with Dikshit in the past and both share a good bonding. so it won't be surprising.

Tirath, who switched to BJP in May 2015, is also likely to come back to Congress fold in the coming days. A prominent Dalit face, she was an MLA from 1984 to 2004 and had served asDeputy Speaker in the Delhi assembly. Tirath was elected as Member of from North West Delhi parliamentary constituency in 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha. She also held charge of Women and Child Development in the Manmohan Singh cabinet.

Earlier, former Delhi Minister and Congress leader Arvinder Singh Lovely, who had also switched to BJP had returned to the party back in 2018.

TheParty leader also said that the Congress is preparing a plan to keep its workers busy in all the seven parliamentary constituencies of the city as it had lost all of them to the BJP in 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Keeping in the view of the crucial summer elections, Dikshit held a meeting on January 19 with the district and block Congress Committee presidents as part of the party's preparations for the coming elections.

In the meeting, the 80-year old leader, sought to know the working system of these bodies and the grassroot level working of the party.

Rajesh Lilothia, Haroon Yusuf, who were also appointed as the DPCC working presidents were also present in the meeting.