Her rivals have been floating stories that by supporting the Bharatiya Janata Party Sheila Dikshit was trying to pre-empt investigations against her, says Kavita Chowdhury
Factional feuds in the Congress were out in the open, as a section of the party leaders came down heavily on former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.
Dikshit's remarks were being viewed as purported "support" to the Bharatiya Janata Party forming the government in Delhi.
In a bid to put an end to the controversy, Dikshit, on Saturday, said, "I have never said BJP should form the government. If they have the numbers, they should form the government."
This was exactly the statement that Dikshit had made earlier this week. However, her rivals in the party made it a big issue to sideline her.
That Dikshit's return to the national capital, after resigning as Kerala governor, had upset the plans of many Congressmen, as they feel threatened.
The clout enjoyed by the three-time chief minister, who is also close to the Gandhi family, had always been grudged by most leaders in the party.
So, when she was dealt a humiliating defeat by Aam Aadmi Party's Arvind Kejriwal in the Assembly polls, her rivals were smug. They were happy when she was made the governor.
Her rivals were floating stories that by supporting the BJP she was trying to pre-empt investigations against her.
Incidentally, Dikshit's role in the alleged Commonwealth Games scam had come under the scanner during the AAP government's tenure in Delhi. Another leader recalled how Dikshit was always close to the BJP and its leader L K Advani.
Immediately after Dikshit's statement, Congress' Communication chief Ajay Maken tweeted that it was the former CM's "personal opinion". The official party line thereafter was to distance itself from Dikshit's remarks.
That two Congress MLAs -- Mateen Ahmed and Asif Mohammed -- had spoken up in support of Dikshit was further viewed as "the politics and havoc that Dikshit was wreaking within the party", whose strength in the Assembly has been reduced to a single digit.
