Will Ajay Maken be projected Delhi CM and Sheila Dikshit, PM?

Ajay Maken resigned last night as a Union minister ahead of the reshuffle of the Council of Ministers and that of the AICC expected next week. Maken submitted his resignation as Union Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and has expressed his desire to work for the party, sources told PTI. The 49-year-old leader was earlier Minister of State for Home Affairs and was later given independent charge of Sports and Youth Affairs. Maken was elevated to the Cabinet rank in October last year. Congress sources said that he could either be made Delhi Congress chief or an AICC General Secretary. A senior Congress leader said he could even be made the Chief Minister of Delhi ahead of the assembly elections later this year. [caption id=“attachment_39503” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  New power centres in the Congress? B Mathur/Reuters[/caption] Maken’s possible elevation as Delhi PCC chief could lead to his indirect projection as the next Chief Minister of Delhi. Incumbent Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has been at the helm of affairs for the past 15 years, setting a record of sorts in independent India for a woman to be chief minister for three consecutive terms. Current Delhi PCC chief J P Agarwal is not on the best of terms with Dikshit. Maken was a one-time protege of Dikshit but had later fallen apart. Sometime back, there was also talk of Dikshit being made a minister at the Centre. Earlier Firstpost had argued that the Congress Party's strongest CM might well be the best bet to take Narendra Modi, head on : Sheila Dikshit, the Chief Minister of Delhi, a good choice (for PM). She has been one of the most stable leaders for the party what with a hat-trick of victories in Delhi. She is known to be good at governance — comparable to BJP’s Narendra Modi — and a brilliant political strategist. She has managed controversies involving her government well and is respected in the party circles. She is good at communicating and is adept at handling the media. What works for her is that she is close to party chief Sonia Gandhi and is not perceived as a threat to the top leadership. with inputs from PTI