The tryst with destiny of Delhi’s woman CMs

The surprise choice of first-time MLA Rekha Gupta as the Chief Minister of Delhi has brought back the focus on woman CMs in the national capital. A buoyant BJP is showcasing Rekha Gupta’s elevation as proof of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s thrust on ‘Nari Shakti’ and a reward for woman voters who opted for the saffron party.

Rekha Gupta is the second woman chief minister of the BJP (after Anandiben Patel in Gujarat) since 2014 and the only woman among the current CMs in 20 BJP/NDA-ruled states and UTs. Considering that women account for around 50 per cent of the voting population, this is a dismal record.

We must also remember that Indira Gandhi became prime minister way back in 1966, much before many western democracies got a woman PM. This highlighted the limited space for women in power in their own country.

The late Khushwant Singh used to say that a significant presence of women in political-public spaces consisted of the anglicised, upper-class gentry of India and the working class did not have the same ease and access to power as the elite, upper-class women.

While the BJP under Modi is trying to change this, a cursory look at all woman MLAs and MPs shows a disproportionately high representation of dynastic politicians as compared to the inclusion of working class woman leaders.

Yet, woman politicians, just like Indira Gandhi, have been successful in transforming politics in a big way. Take Sheila Dikshit, for example. Sonia Gandhi had turned to Sheila Dikshit in 1998 when the glory of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajapyee was on full display and Sonia Gandhi had just taken over as Congress president.

There was mild rebellion over the manner in which her successor Sitaram Kesri was dumped and how the General Elections in 1998 had given the Congress lesser number of seats than the post-Emergency 1977 Lok Sabha polls.

Sonia was desperate to do something spectacular to gain the confidence of her own rank and file. Elections in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan were round the corner. The Delhi Congress unit was particularly in disarray, sharply divided between supporters and opponents of an ailing and aging HKL Bhagat. Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler were not an option as a sizeable Sikh population in Delhi was against them on grounds of their dubious role during the 1984 Sikh carnage.

At a meeting of the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust held at 10, Janpath, Sheila Dikshit’s name was proposed as Delhi CM. While Sonia quickly came on board, Dikshit required encouragement from K Natwar Singh to take up the challenging assignment. The rest, as they say, is history.

Sheila Dikshit rode high on the rising onion prices and delivered Delhi for Sonia, beating Sushma Swaraj who was the then BJP chief minister of Delhi. If there was anyone more stunned than Sushma Swaraj and Vajpayee, it was HKL Bhagat and a section of the Congressmen who had tried their level best to sabotage Congress’ prospects. Sheila’s sincerity, appeal to the great Indian middle class, simplicity and vision for big flyovers, metros, malls and parks helped her tide over all challenges.

In 2016, however, Sheila Dikshit faced a rather unsurmountable challenge, when she was projected as the Congress chief-ministerial candidate in Uttar Pradesh. Age was not on her side as Sheila struggled to look for a ‘safe constituency’ for herself in UP. Unlike Delhi, the UP Congress unit was both defunct and demoralised.

Interestingly, Sonia relied on Sheila Dikshit each time she faced a difficult situation. In 2012, when Pranab Mukherjee moved to Rashtrapati Bhavan and P Chidambaram shifted to the Finance Ministry, Sonia had toyed with the idea of making Sheila Dikshit the Home Minister y. But Sheila Dikshit reportedly declined the offer, hoping to win Delhi for a record fourth time in 2013. ‘Kaun jaaye Dilli ki gallian chhod kar’ was the refrain.

But her calculations misfired when Sheila lost her own election to a former revenue service official, Arvind Kejriwal. Not only did she miss the North Block bus, she also saw the complete rout of the Congress in Delhi.

Sushma Swaraj, too, had become the Delhi chief minister rather reluctantly when the BJP was struggling to win the 1998 Assembly polls. Internal surveys had indicated that Sahib Singh Verma was incapable of retaining Delhi. The Delhi BJP unit had Madan Lal Khurana, who was believed to be a ‘natural contender’. Khurana was replaced in 1996 by Verma over allegations of corruption. Sushma Swaraj started off well, but her tenure was too short as she was brought in October to face the early December 1998 Assembly polls. A woman-versus-woman or Sushma-versus-Sheila contest put Sushma at a disadvantage as onion prices kept soaring.

The Aam Aadmi Party’s choice of Atishi late last year as Kejriwal's successor was interesting and aimed at influencing the women voters of the capital. Like Sushma Swaraj, Atishi started off well as chief minister, but controversies relating to Kejriwal and his overarching presence proved disastrous. While the AAP counted heavily on women voters, Kejriwal’s projection as a future chief minister ate away Atishi’s status as a woman chief minister and influencer. It is debatable and perhaps futile now, but had Kejriwal given Atishi all support and projected her as a chief-ministerial face, the AAP chief minister may have salvaged the situation and brought a working majority for Kejriwal’s party. But there are no ifs and buts in politics.

For Rekha Gupta, her gender may have earned her the coveted post, but she would need to do much more than thrive on her status as the BJP’s woman face in Delhi. Cleaning the Yamuna river and providing fresh air to Delhi residents is her first and challenging assignment.

Whether she goes the Sushma and Atishi way or leaves a legacy like Sheila Dikshit will depend more on the quality of her work than anything else.