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Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who joined the election campaign of the Congress for the civic polls only after a direction from the party high command, on Tuesday said the outcome of the polls would not be a reflection on the functioning of the state government.

Addressing a news conference at the state party headquarters, Dikshit said there are three tiers of governance in the Capital – local, state level and central. The elections are being fought only on the local issues. The CM was replying to a volley of questions on whether the civic polls was a referendum on the functioning of her government and she was facing a “litmus test” as made out by the opposition Bhartiya Janata Party.

Asked whether a section of the government wants the Congress to loose the polls so that the anti incumbency sentiments are dented for next year’s Assembly elections, Dikshit said these were merely rumours. “We all want the party to do well in the elections,” she said. The CM said the Assembly elections would be fought on the functioning of the state government while for the civic polls, the local issues and the implementation of the Master Plan are the dominant agenda.

Flanked by her arch rival in state Congress politics and DPCC president Ram Babu Sharma, Dikshit explained her late entry in the election campaign. “Most of us were involved in the exercise. After the instructions of the high command, I got involved in a bigger way,” she said. Interestingly, Dikshit campaigned for the first time only on last Sunday – three days before the campaigning comes to an end.

Asked about Minister of State for Urban Development Ajay Maken’s statement that the MPD can be implemented only about the Congress, the CM said, “it was a plan document and has to be implemented”. Maken is her protégé turned bitter rival in state and central Congress politics. She, nevertheless, praised the MPD as one which is meant to give relief to the people of the city.

Email: ashukla@hindustantimes.com