145;CM magic hands it to Congress146;

Branded as an 8216;outsider8217; by her own party colleagues in 1998, when she was brought in as the party8217;s Delhi unit chief and later as chief minister, party sources claim Dikshit has single-handedly managed to pin down BJP8217;s chief ministerial candidate V K Malhotra. Reason: her appeal with the Capital8217;s voters, say Congress insiders.

8220;We had nearly four lakh young voters this time and most of them voted for her because she stands for development for the youths, compared to Malhotra who is mainly known among the older generation that still recalls his stint as the metropolitan council chief in the 1960s and 70s,8221; a party insider said. After facing stiff opposition from party MPs like Ajay Maken, Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler, Dikshit got a free hand to pick candidates for the elections this time.

BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley also admitted later that the election mainly belonged to Dikshit.

Sources said another factor that contributed to the party8217;s victory is the step to regularise unauthorised colonies in the city. While more than 1,600 colonies have been given provisional certificates, Congress insiders said the step helped strengthen the party8217;s presence despite the BSP trying to make inroads and eat into Congress8217;s vote share.