| Sheila Dikshit, born on 31st March 1938, has been the
Chief Minister of Delhi since 1998.
Sheila has a Master of Arts degree from Delhi University. She took over
as Chief Minister after the Congress, led by her in Delhi, swept the assembly
polls. The first woman to become CM of Delhi, she is an experienced politician
representing Gole Market constituency in the Delhi Assembly. She was reelected
in the 2003 elections, after the Congress again obtained a majority in
the assembly polls.
She has also served as a Union Minister during 1986-1989, first as the
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and later as a Minister of
State in the Prime Minister's Office. During the period between 1984 and
1989, she represented Kannauj Parliamentary Constituency of Uttar Pradesh.
As a member of Parliament, she served on the Estimates Committee of Lok
Sabha. She also chaired the Implementation Committee for Commemoration
of Forty Years of India's Independence and Jawaharlal Nehru centenary.
Championing the cause of women at various fora, she represented India
at UN Commission on Status of Women for five years between 1984 and 1989.
She, along with 82 colleagues, was jailed by the government of Uttar Pradesh
in August 1990 when she led a people's movement against the atrocities
being committed on women. Earlier, in early 1970s, she was chairperson
of the Young Women's Association and was instrumental in the setting up
two of most successful hostels for working women in Delhi.
|