Keerthi Prakasam and Alankrita Anand| The News Minute| June 20, 2014|Sheila Dikshit, three-time Delhi Chief Minister and presently the Governor of Kerala, has been a Congresswoman for over 30 years now. Her political career, which for a long time, had mostly spiraled upwards took an unfavorable turn in the years preceding the Delhi Assembly Elections of 2013. Nonetheless, she continues to remain in the news. Most recently, over speculations regarding her post as the Governor of Kerala.The woman, who is now facing heat from the new government to quit her office as the Governor of Kerala has not made an official remark on the issue. On Tuesday, Sheila dismissed the media saying that she will not respond to rumours. But some reports suggest that Sheila is not willing to give in easily.This looks like Sheila putting up a fight for the last position she is left with. After the issues that plagued her political career in the past few years returning to politics is not an easy option, and it looks like she knows that well.Dikshit was appointed President of the Delhi PCC in 1998 and went on to take over from Sushma Swaraj in the state elections later that year. Her first achievement was the launch of the Bhagidari System which enabled the citizens to partner with the government on matters of civic amenities. Then on, she most banked on the agenda of development. In her three tenures, Delhi got its metro rail, an efficient BRT system and hosted the Commonwealth Games.But allegations of corruption leveled against her government during Commonwealth Games along with problems of law and governance led to a point which can be termed as some of the worst times of Sheila Dikshit’s political career.Shooting onion prices, increase in rapes and crime rates coupled with unbecoming comments from the CM distanced the public from the earlier stories of development and progress. Anna Haraze’s anti-corruption movement and the December 16th gang rape which shook the nation worsened Sheila’s agony.In September 2008, journalist Soumya Vishwanathan was murdered and Dikshit responded with ‘one should not be adventurous’. But Sheila Dikshit remained a largely popular leader she won the New Delhi seat two months later. But the mood of the electorate clearly changed over the next five years owing to a multiplicity of reasons and Sheila’s career was on shaky ground. Sheila Dixit, who held the Congress forte in Delhi for as many as 15 years, was caught unaware as Arvind Kejriwal and his battalion came to briefly conquer the city. In fact, the AAP gained much leverage from some issues that came to haunt Sheila Dikshit’s political career- the Delhi gang rape, inflation and power crisis.A desperate Sheila Dixit made contradicting statements entangled in the aftermath of the Delhi gang rape. One of the statements that in the end horribly went against her was when Sheila said that Delhi, her own state, was not safe. She also said she was terribly ashamed of herself.What probably was her pitch to snatch the law and order in Delhi from the Centre’s control came to be interpreted as her failure to act as a responsible Chief Minister. Meanwhile, her comments on the Delhi Police not being under her charge did not alleviate public discontent either. Trying to neutralize the damage, Sheila then set up a helpline to assist women in times of danger, but her remarks once again backfired. She said that her administration gave a go ahead for the project after just ‘one’ rape was reported from Delhi.Dixit obviously did not think about the consequences or the stats- The Delhi police themselves said that a woman was raped in Delhi in every 18 hours. And Sheila came under fire yet again from activists and the media.In another instance, addressing the issue of growing prices of onions and tomatoes in Delhi, she tried to shift the blame to two other states – Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, for hoarding kitchen staple. By December 2013, when Kejriwal and did the unthinkable and defeated Sheila with a margin of 25, 684 votes, Sheila had hit rock bottom.When Kerala’s former Governor Nikhil Kumar was called by the UPA to contest from Aurangabad for a Lok Sabha seat, the party also must have thought that Kerala would be a safe haven for her.However, few were happy with the decision. Social networking sites saw a slew of opinions and veteran journalist BRP Bhaskar even ran a campaign against Dikshit’s appointment as the new Governor. The AAP, which by then was trying make its humble ‘presence’ felt in Kerala, also protested against the UPA government’s move.In fact, Sheila’s appointment as the Governor of Kerala was a hurried process. Despite pleas from various quarters that such appointments should be made only after the elections, the government went ahead with the decision and Sheila took oath on March 4th as the new Governor of Kerala.And Sheila remained in the news. One of the most talked about incidents was Left leader MM Mani, calling her a tramp when speaking to the media. Mani is known for his controversial comments.The plight of Sheila Dikshit in coming couple of years will invariably be decided by the NDA’s move, whatsoever it is. But if she looks back, all hell that broke loose on her came about in the last two years, her governance or non-governance of 15 years in Delhi, and even her yesteryears image as a ‘development’ figure did not come to her help.