NEW DELHI, June 6: Former Union minister Shiela Dixit was today appointed president of the faction-ridden Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee replacing Chaudhary Prem Singh.Dixit, considered to be extremely close to 10, Janpath emerged a clear winner with the DPCC unable to throw up any one single name that would be acceptable to the majority.Though Dikshit lost to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from the east Delhi parliamentary constituency, she consolidated the Congress votes to a large extent. Choudhary Prem Singh who was leading the Congress when it all but collapsed in Delhi in the elections to the 12th Lok Sabha tried hard to retain his position as the DPCC president but was overwhelmed by the Opposition. The AICC held detailed deliberations till late Saturday night before ``unofficially'' deciding on Dikshit. ``I will do whatever is asked of me,'' she told The Indian Express. ``I have not heard the news yet,'' she confessed. AICC sources said that after the Motilal Vora committeereport and the party's dismal performance they knew that DPCC had to be revamped. ``She is the best bet. We are now going to meet AICC president Sonia Gandhi and then announce the decision,'' an AICC official said late in the evening.``The DPCC is so faction ridden that it is not even willing to close ranks in the wake of an outsider taking over. But then she will not get everybody's support,'' said a Congress activist close to Prem Singh. Dikshit's supporters on the other hand insist a clear message has gone down the rank and file that she is backed by 10, Janpath and she means business. Diskhit's rally yesterday also tilted the balance in her favour, say supporters.
