Sheila Dikshit likely to be named Congress' CM candidate for UP

New Delhi, July 14 (ANI): Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit is likely to be announced today as the Congress' chief ministerial candidate for the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. The announcement in this regard will be made by former union minister and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad at a press briefing later in the day. 78-year-old Dikshit's choice for the top post comes amid speculations that Prashant Kishore, who has been roped in as the party's poll strategist for Uttar Pradesh, is of the view that 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, later shifted allegiance to the BJP. 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. (ANI)