In a tete-a-tete with The Hindu, the former Chief Minister speaks about the AAP, the Congress’ achievements and her political future

It’s been two-and-a-half-years since her government was voted out. Since then, Delhi has gone “backwards”, says former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

Ms. Dikshit, who was Chief Minister for 15 years till December 2013, says the past couple of years have seen progress coming to a halt.

Referring to the Aam Aadmi Party government, she said the “first year has not been very encouraging”.

“We were a responsive government. We addressed whatever was the need of the hour. When we came to power in 1998, there used to be six-hour power cuts. So, we privatised power distribution and that stopped,” she says.

Rattling off a list of “achievements” of her government, Ms. Dikshit says there had been improvements in healthcare, education, transportation and women’s empowerment.

“We took on the problem of traffic jams. The biggest achievement was the Metro. We constructed flyovers; brought in CNG to replace diesel buses,” she added.

From the Bhagidari scheme that increased people’s participation to several social welfare initiatives, the former Chief Minister said that her government was constantly responding to needs. Gender resource centres were set up to give women vocational training. These, Ms. Dikshit remarked, had been closed down by the AAP government.

“I treated Delhi as home, like a housewife would look after a home and attend to everybody’s needs,” she says sitting at her residence in Nizamuddin East.

Now, she says, referring to the tussle between the BJP-ruled Centre and the AAP, the city is suffering because of the “confrontational” approach of the Kejriwal government.

“I don’t think Mr. Kejriwal understands governance, and he doesn’t want to. He’s on his own trip. He has a massive majority…his priorities are certainly not the people of Delhi,” she says.

But then, how did Mr. Kejriwal, a political newbie at the time, end up unseating Ms. Dikshit, a three-term Congress Chief Minister? Did the Congress underestimate the AAP?

“Yes,” says Ms. Dikshit.

“In the last week before the elections, we got the impression that the AAP was picking up. We didn’t take him [Mr. Kejriwal] seriously because we were confident of the work we had done. It was the freebies that the AAP promised that really got people, not anti-incumbency,” she adds.

But, she did admit to making a mistake during the 2013 campaign.

“I made one very big mistake in my life. During the elections, Mr. Kejriwal brought out posters with photos of him and me, with imandar (honest) and baiman (dishonest) written respectively. I should have taken that to court,” she rued.

The former Chief Minister, however, refused to comment on the corruption allegations the AAP levelled. She clarified that these were “only allegations”.

About the messy handling of the Commonwealth Games in 2010, she says the games were eventually a success. “How does it matter if the preparations were completed two or three days before?” she asks.

“We ran a good, clean government. People are thinking of those times again. In fact, I get more visitors as a former Chief Minister than I did as a sitting one,” says Ms. Dikshit.

But, according to her, it is too early to pass a judgment on the Kejriwal government as some sections of society were “disillusioned”, but some were satisfied.

One of the main points of conflict between the AAP government and the Centre has been control over the police and bureaucracy.

Mr. Kejriwal has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of interfering in Delhi’s affairs. According to the AAP, giving Delhi the status of a full State would solve these issues.

“In all our manifestos we too wrote that Delhi should get full Statehood, but experience says that Delhi cannot get the kind of Statehood that other States have. It is the Capital,” she says.

Does that mean the Congress had changed its mind? No, says Ms. Dikshit.

“I just accepted that we have to work within the framework. You have to learn how to work with cooperation. Even the Central Government has a stake in Delhi, so we have to utilise that interest. It cannot be done with confrontation,” she says.

In the past year, the AAP government has not just entered into a tussle with the Centre, but with the BJP-ruled municipal corporations as well.

The corporations blame the AAP government for withholding funding, leading to a workers’ strike.

“When it comes to convenience and the rights of workers, how can there be a dispute? The corporations’ style of functioning has always been shoddy. But, if the corporations can’t raise revenue, we can’t allow Delhi to suffer because workers aren’t paid,” she says.

While she declined to comment on the Congress’ chances in next year’s civic bodies’ elections, Ms. Dikshit did say that the recent by-polls suggested an upward trend. Will she get back into active politics?

“I don’t want to take a position in Delhi. Whenever I’m asked to go for an event, I go. Delhi is my home. Nobody can take my home away from me,” she points out.