As it became clear that the Congress was going to win the Delhi Assembly elections, visitors and party workers thronged the Chief Minister’s residence on the morning of the results. But after greeting Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, they all made a beeline for Rama Dhawan, Dikshit’s youngest sister, who stood among a crowd of admirers — carrying almost as many garlands as the chief minister herself.

Dhawan has been credited with single-handedly managing Dikshit’s campaign in New Delhi constituency, though she herself is rather modest about it. “We were all very closely involved with the campaign,” she told Newsline on Tuesday, a day after the Congress won the third straight Assembly polls. “It was a total team effort.”

But ask Dikshit’s close aides, and they would say Dhawan’s presence in the constituency — the chief minister was taking on BJP’s Saket MLA Vijay Jolly — left Dikshit with enough time to concentrate on broader aspects of the campaign. Throughout the campaign, and indeed after it as well, the presence of Dikshit’s sisters at her residence has been almost taken for granted. From greeting visitors, to organising campaign material and accompanying the CM on various rallies, or just taking a break from it all by watching a movie, both Dhawan and Pam Malhotra were always at Dikshit’s side.

In fact, Malhotra, who lives in Noida, relocated temporarily to the chief minister’s residence a month before D-day. In the New Delhi constituency, the two sisters are a familiar sight. “Most people recognise them now because they have been working in the constituency since 1998,” a close Dikshit aide said. “This is the first election in which Rama-ji has played a more active role. But in terms of helping out, and otherwise meeting people, they have been around for almost 10 years now.”

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