All I ask for is time: Dikshit

NEW DELHI, November 29: After the Congress's clean sweep in the Assembly polls, the Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit asks for only one th...

NEW DELHI, November 29: After the Congress8217;s clean sweep in the Assembly polls, the Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit asks for only one thing. 8220;Please give us some time,8221; she says when asked how she will solve the problems of price rise, power, water, transport, health and education plaguing the city.

8220;When I took over the Congress, people said the same thing. Everyone insisted that taking over the Delhi Congress was no good. But then everyone was wrong,8221; she says. 8220;I have the will and the commitment to improve the situation in the city. All I ask for is time.8221;

As for the Delhi Statehood Bill, which may come in for consideration in the coming session of Parliament, she said: 8220;The Congress does not want statehood at this moment. We are not going to make it a political issue.8221;

Explaining her stand, which is in contrast to the BJP plan for full statehood for Delhi, she said: 8220;Delhi has a very special status as the national capital. It is not like Lucknow or Patna. Delhi is the seat of the Central Government.8221;

On top of her list of things to do is bringing under control the spiralling prices of essential commodities like vegetables and edible oil. 8220;We will make sure that hoarders are raided and action is taken against them. That should control the price rise. We are going to take perishable commodities very seriously because they concern the daily lives of the people,8221; she said.

As for administrative problems, particularly those between the central government and the local government in Delhi, she said: 8220;We will make sure that, like the BJP, we do not make this a Government of excuses.8221; She promised better cooperation between the police and the Delhi Government through coordination committees, like the vigilance committee. 8220;But the decline in law and order in the city is the responsibility of the Centre,8221; she added.

Calling for a CBI inquiry into the Gautam Nagar poisoning incident on the eve of elections, she said: 8220;It was done mainly to stop voter from voting, because it is a Congress stronghold.8221;

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As for the power situation in the Capital, she maintained there was no shortage in Delhi. According to her: 8220;The distribution system has to be strengthened and the Bawana power plant has to be set up for improving generation8221;.