Providential escape for Delhi CM, Mani Shankar Aiyar

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 30. For the Delhi Chief Minister, Ms. Sheila Dikshit, and the AICC(I) leader and Member of Parliament, Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar, it was a providential escape from the jaws of death. Both were supposed to be on the ill-fated aircraft which killed the senior Congress leader, Mr. Madhavrao Scindia, four journalists and two crew members. A last-minute change of plans saw them aborting their journey to Kanpur.

Still to get over the shock, Ms. Dikshit told The Hindu this evening that she got a phone call from Mr. Scindia this morning asking her to accompany him to Kanpur to address a public rally in connection with the ``Parivartan Yatra'' launched by the Congress to mobilise the people and the party for the coming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. ``I decided not to undertake the journey as I was not feeling well. Three hours of travel and the subsequent addressing of the rally would have been very tedious and therefore I urged him to spare me this time. I had also developed a slight fever and as such did not want to take any risks,'' said Ms. Dikshit, who underwent a heart by-pass surgery only two months ago.

Mr. Aiyar, who was also to accompany Mr. Scindia to Kanpur, was asked by him to stay back as he wanted to take some journalists along to cover the rally and the small plane could accommodate only 10 people.

Trying very hard to come to terms with the death of her long-time friend, Ms. Dikshit said it was awful to even think of the tragedy.

The Chief Minister was also sad over the untimely death of young journalists who were in the prime of their careers. She said The Hindustan Times correspondent, Ms. Anju Sharma, who died in the crash, was very well-known to her as she covered the Delhi Government. Ms. Dikshit said whenever she met Ms. Anju there was always a smile on her face.

Recalling her association with Mr. Scindia, the Chief Minister said she had a very personal interaction with him. He was one of the very few leaders around who had a broad vision. ``He was a lovely leader, a friend and a precious colleague. I met him very often and only recently he had chaired a meeting of the coordination committee set up by the party president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, to ensure coordination between the party and the Delhi Government.''

Ms. Dikshit said Mr. Scindia was very understanding, helpful and sanguine and could be relied upon for the right kind of advice.

During his stint as the Union Railway Minister in the Rajiv Gandhi Government, Mr. Scindia had always been admired for being down to earth and never once did he give the impression that he was a Union Minister. ``During that time I learnt a lot of things from him including how to look after and nurture your constituency in order to keep the people happy,'' she stated.

Ms. Dikshit recalled that Mr. Scindia was very fond of sports and always talked about how sports could be improved in the country. ``He used to crack lot of jokes and always said he gave priority to his heart over his mind.''

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