A day of national mourning as Sheila Dikshit, one of the most prominent leader of India, passed away. She died of a cardiac arrest. She was the longest serving Chief Minister of Delhi from 1998-2013.
Sheila Dikshit was admitted to Escorts hospital this morning. She died at 3.55 pm.
“A multi-disciplinary team of doctors, led by Dr Ashok Seth, Chairman, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, carried out the advanced resuscitative measures. Her condition stabilised temporarily. However, she had another cardiac arrest and despite all the resuscitative efforts, passed away at 3:55pm on 20th of July 2019,” Fortis said in a statement.
Sheila Dikshit’s body has been taken to her home in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area; her last rites will take place tomorrow.
Sheila Dikshit took over as Delhi Congress chief in January, ahead of the national elections. She had contested the Lok Sabha elections from North East Delhi constituency, but lost to the BJP’s Manoj Tiwari.
Political Career
Born in Punjab’s Kapurthala, Sheila Dikshit was credited with numerous people-friendly programmes.
She started off as a reluctant politician, assisting her father-in-law, veteran Uttar Pradesh Congress leader Uma Shankar Dikshit, who was a minster in Indira Gandhi’s cabinet.
Sheila Dikshit became a lawmaker for the first time from the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh in 1984. She was a close associate of former PM Rajiv Gandhi and a minister in his cabinet.
Sheila Dikshit had served as Delhi’s chief minister for three consecutive terms between 1998 and 2013. She was succeeded by Aam Aadmi Party’s Arvind Kejriwal.
Sheila Dikshit, after her stint as Delhi chief minister, was sworn in as Kerala’s Governor in 2014, but resigned in just six months.
