Pain of losing mother can’t be erased: Sheila Dikshit’s son on her demise

The pain of losing a mother cannot be erased, said Sandeep Dikshit, the grieving son of former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, who died on Saturday due to cardiac arrest at Delhi’s Fortis Escorts Heart Institute. The three-time Delhi chief minister from Congress had suffered a massive cardiac arrest on Saturday morning and was rushed to Fortis Hospital. She had another cardiac arrest and despite all the resuscitative efforts, passed away at 3:55 pm, the hospital said in a statement.

“My mother passed away, it's natural that I'll miss her. The pain of losing a mother cannot be erased. Whenever, people will talk of a developed & growing Delhi, Sheila ji's name will be remembered,” ANI news agency quoted Sheila Dikshit’s son as saying.

Condolences started pouring in from all quarters as soon as the news of Sheila Dikshit's demise was shared. Politicians across party lines, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, paid tributes to Dikshit at her residence in Delhi's Nizamuddin.

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Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who shared close ties with Dikshit, said that he was "devastated" to hear about her demise. Calling her a beloved daughter of the Congress Party, Rahul Gandhi said that Dikshit selflessly served people of Delhi during her 15-year-long tenure as the chief minister.

"I’m devastated to hear about the passing away of Sheila Dikshit Ji, a beloved daughter of the Congress Party, with whom I shared a close personal bond. My condolences to her family & the citizens of Delhi, whom she served selflessly as a 3 term CM, in this time of great grief," the Gandhi scion said.

Shiela Dikshit will always be remembered for transforming the national capital. She was one of the country’s most prominent women politicians who always believed in delivering her promises. Even her fiercest critic and political opponents regarded her as a motherly figure. She was the longest serving chief minister of Delhi and held the top post for 15 years from 1998 to 2013.