Dikshit received her primary education at Delhi's Convent of Jesus and Mary school and graduated from Miranda House, Delhi University and obtained a post-graduation degree in History.

With acumen in administrative and legislative issues, Dikshit got involved herself in politics in a big way after the 1969 split in Congress. Faced with one of the biggest challenges of her life, Indira Gandhi trusted only a handful of her supporters, including Uma Shankar Dikshit.

As her father-in-law's workload increased manifold in the wake of this development, Sheila stepped in to assist him. While managing Uma Shankar Dikshit's affairs, Sheila's potential was noticed by Indira Gandhi. Impressed by her work, Gandhi nominated Sheila as a member of the Indian delegation to the UN Commission on status of women.

First elected to the Lok Sabha in 1984 from Kannauj of Uttar Pradesh, she served as a Minister under Rajiv Gandhi first as the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and later as a Minister of State in the Prime Minister's office. In 1989, she lost the elections from Kannauj.

Dikshit spent years in wilderness after Rajiv Gandhi's death and returned to the mainstream only after Sonia became the party chief.

The Congress sprang a surprise in 1998 when it made her faction-ridden Delhi Congress president and Chief Minister. Her detractors attacked her calling her an "outsider" who would not last long in Delhi. However, after 10 years of being in power, she has only grown stronger and taller as a leader as has been testified by the popular mandate the Congress got under her leadership and for her governance.

... contd.