Sheila Dikshit was the former and the 6th Chief Minister of Delhi. An Indian politician, she was a member of Indian National Congress. In January 2009, Sheila Dikshit was sworn in as the Chief Minister for a third consecutive term. Sheila Dikshit is the second woman Chief Minister of Delhi and represented the New Delhi Constituency in the Legislative Assembly of Delhi. She was one of the longest-serving Chief Ministers of Delhi, as well as the longest-serving female Chief Minister of any Indian state, serving for a period of 15 years from 1998 to 2013.

Early Life of Sheila Dikshit
Sheila Kapoor was born on March 31st 1938, in a non-political "Khatri" family in the Kapurthala district of Punjab. She was the eldest of three daughters. She successfully completed her education at Convent of Jesus and Mary School, New Delhi and later in Miranda House, Delhi University. Dikshit also holds Master of Arts degree in History. She is also the beneficiary of Doctor of Philosophy, from the University of Delhi.

Political Career of Sheila Dikshit
After the 1969, split in Congress in a big way, Sheila Dikshit got involved in politics. She faced one of the major challenges of her life when Indira Gandhi trusted only some of her supporters, including Uma Shankar Dikshit. Sheila stepped in to assist him as her father-in-law"s workload increased assorted in the wake of this development. Impressed by her work, Gandhi designated Sheila to work as a member of the Indian delegation to the UN Commission on status of women.

During the Rajiv Gandhi Government in 1986-1989, Sheila Dikshit served as a Minister in the Union Government, first as the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and later as a Minister of State in the Prime Minister"s office. From 1984 to 1989, she was a Member of Parliament in lieu of Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh. Sheila Dikshit served on the Estimates Committee of Lok Sabha as a Member of Parliament. She also chaired the Implementation Committee for Commemoration. In 1998, as the President of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, she led her party to a far-reaching victory in the Assembly elections.

In August 1990, Sheila Dikshit along with her 82 colleagues had been jailed by the State Government for 23 days in Uttar Pradesh when she had led a people"s movement against the atrocities being committed on women.

Sheila Dikshit has also served as the Secretary of the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust. It presents the Indira Gandhi Award for Peace, Disarmament and Development and Organises conferences on issues of the global concern. Dikshit has also been instrumental in promoting handicrafts and rural artisans all over the country. She has also promoted the folk theatre.

Sheila Dikshit represented Gole Market Constituency in the Assembly. In 1970"s, she was Chairperson of the Young Women"s Association and had set up two of most successful hostels for working women in Delhi. Sheila Dikshit had resigned from her designation of Chief Minister on 8th December, 2013. After her resignation, she had served as the Governor of Kerala from 11th March 2014 to 26th August 2014. She was again appointed as president of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee on 10th January 2019.

Awards Received by Sheila Dikshit
The following are the awards received by Sheila Dikshit:


•As a Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit was conferred with the Best Chief Minister of India by Journalist Association of India on 12 July 2008.

•In 2009, Sheila Dikshit received the Politician of the Year award by NDTV.

•In 2010, she received the Dara Shikoh award by Indo-Iran Society.

•On 13th June, 2013, she was honoured with the Competitive States Award. She received this award in Delhi, from Hamid Ansari, the Vice President of India.

•Sheila Dikshit was also the recipient of the Decade Achievers Awards 2013 by ALL Ladies League for Outstanding Public Service.

Personal Life of Sheila Dikshit
Sheila Dikshit was married to Shri Vinod Dikshit, son of veteran freedom fighter and a former Governor and Union Cabinet Minister Umashankar Dikshit. Her late husband was an officer in the Indian Administrative Service. Sheila Dikshit had two children, Sandeep Dikshit, who is a member of parliament from East Delhi for Congress and daughter Latika Syed.

Death of Sheila Dikshit
Sheila Dikshit died on 20th July 2019 at City Hospital, New Delhi. She was 81 years old and was suffering from illness for long time. She died due to a cardiac attack.