New Delhi: Veteran Congress leader Sheila Dikshit on Thursday thanked her party for making her the party's official chief ministerial candidate for 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
Talking to reporters minutes after she was named the official CM candidate, Dikshit said, “It's a very big responsibility on me. I thank the party high command for reposing faith in me and my leadership capabilities.”
Though the task is difficult, I am confident of good results in UP, she added.
''We are going for UP elections with the hope that we will win this time,''Dikshit told reporters.
There are four parties in UP - SP, BSP, BJP and Congress. The fight is with all of them, Dikshit said.
When asked about the role of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the veteran Congress leader said, ''I would like her to campaign whenever she wishes to.''
The reactions from the for,er Delhi chief minister came shortly after senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad made an announcement on her at a press briefing here.
78-year-old Dikshit has been the the top choice for the CM's post after it was reported in media that Prashant Kishore, who has been roped in as the party's poll strategist for Uttar Pradesh, backed her candidature, saying a Brahmin face represents the Congress in the politically crucial state.
This move can be seen as an attempt on the Congress party's part to win back its traditional upper caste voters.
The community, a traditional vote bank of the Congress, had shifted allegiance to the BJP in the recent years. A large chunk of Brahmin votes had also gone to the BSP in the past when party supremo Mayawati gave tickets to many candidates belonging to the community.
Dikshit had earlier last month met the Congress top brass amid speculation that she may be made the party's chief ministerial face for next year's assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.
Dikshit, who served thrice as the Delhi Chief Minister before AAP's Arvind Kejriwal dismissed her with a record mandate in December 2013, had earlier said that she was ready for any role which the party assigns to her.
