No question of public spat with Sheila Dikshit: Former LG Vijai Kapoor

“I had burnt her effigy when there was mismanagement in Delhi during the Commonwealth Games, but even after that we met over breakfast and discussed politics, art and culture, which we both were fond of,” Vijay Goel said.

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Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta said he was caught off guard when Dikshit told him she wanted to withdraw a defamation case she had filed alleging “uncivilised language”. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)

Though not always on the same page, politicians and bureaucrats who worked with Sheila, or across the aisle from her, said she always knew how to take everyone along.

Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Goel said she accompanied L-G Vijai Kapoor to his office in 2001. He was the Union MoS for Planning, she a Chief Minister keen to improve her city. “So we had the L-G, CM and Union Minister sitting together, which you won’t see nowadays,” he said.

“I had burnt her effigy when there was mismanagement in Delhi during the Commonwealth Games, but even after that we met over breakfast and discussed politics, art and culture, which we both were fond of,” he said.

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Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta said he was caught off guard when Dikshit told him she wanted to withdraw a defamation case she had filed alleging “uncivilised language”. “It was at a wedding… She came to me and said, ‘You are an aggressive guy, but I no longer want to drag the issue’… I was humbled by her grace.”

Tejendra Khanna, who served as L-G from January 1997 to April 1998 and again from April 2007 to July 2013 said, “When we were fairly close to the commencement of the games, we realised the transport of athletes from the CWG village to JLN stadium would be a challenge… It is then we prepared the project for Barapullah elevated road… During my last tenure, only twice did we have to refer matters to the Union Home Ministry over differences of opinion. That was the end of it. There was no question of any public spat. We used to meet once every week and that continued for many years.”