New Delhi: Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s last rites will be held at 2.30 pm at Nigam Bodh Ghat crematorium on Sunday. The veteran Congress leader passed away yesterday at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute in Delhi following a cardiac arrest. She was 81.
Dikshit breathed her last at 3.55 pm at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, doctors said. “Mrs Sheila Dixit was brought in the morning on July 20, 2019 to Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, Okhla, New Delhi, in a critical condition with cardiac arrest. 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 3:55 pm on July 20, 2019,” a Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, Okhla statement said.
Yesterday, politicians cutting across party lines visited Dikshit’s Nizamuddin residence, where her body was kept and paid their last respects to the Congress stalwart. PM Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress leaders Ahmed Patel, Jyotiraditya Scindia, and several others visited her residence. BJP’s Vijay Goel and CPI(M) leaders Sitaram Yechury and Brinda Karat also visited her residence to pay their last respects to the former Delhi CM.
Meanwhile, a two-day state mourning was announced by Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government as a mark of respect for the Congress leader. “Delhi government has decided to observe a two-day state mourning as a mark of respect in the memory of former Chief Minister and veteran leader Sheila Dikshit. She will be accorded a state funeral,” Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had tweeted.
Dikshit was president of Delhi Congress and had served as Delhi’s chief minister for 15 years from 1998-2013. As the longest serving woman chief minister who steered her party to victory for three consecutive terms in 1998, 2003 and 2008, Dikshit ushered in an era of all-round development that transformed Delhi into a world class capital.
She also initiated green reforms in public transport sector, successfully accomplishing the shift from polluting vehicles to a CNG based fleet. Known as a warm and affable politician, Dikshit carried out massive infrastructure development of Delhi during her tenure. She also launched a number of social welfare schemes with involvement of resident welfare associations as part of her participatory model of governance.