HAS KIRAN BEDI BACKFIRED FOR THE BJP?

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata party president Amit Shah certainly thought that by selecting Kiran Bedi for the post of Delhi Chief Minister they might have effected a coup of sorts. The rest of the BJP was not so sure, the Delhi unit in revolt, and yet the two leaders who call the shots in the party were certain that Bedi was the magic mantra to counter Aam Aadmi chief Arvind Kejriwal.

Has the move backfired? It would seem so judging from Delhi’s broad response. The first to react against her was the local BJP that indulged in violent protest, and despite warnings from the party president, is visibly sulking.

The second to react was another powerful constituency, that of the Delhi Bar Association that burnt an effigy of the former police officer in protest against her high handed action against the lawyers several years ago. Currently the Bar Association president has himself launched a SMS drive against Bedi reminding all lawyers in the city of her use of force against them, and urging them not to vote for her.

The poor have kept a distance and Bedi is not herself very comfortable roaming the shanties for votes. This is Kejriwal territory so far and Bedi remains an unknown figure. Besides the essential dislike for cops amongst Delhi’s poor is not going to endear her to the resettlement colonies that are generally on the receiving end of the stick.

Bedi herself cuts this no-nonsense figure, speaks like an officer, and does not have the approach of the politician required to bond with the voters. An ABP-Nielsen poll now gives Kejriwal an edge over the BJP and Bedi, registering a steady climb out of temporary oblivion for AAP. The poll claims that at least 50 per cent of those surveyed were going to vote for Kejriwal, a four per cent hike from an earlier similar survey in mid January.

The Citizen, while mentioning the survey, must make it clear that we do not consider most of these polls reliable and prefers to rely on its own field reports.

Voices from the field have been gathering momentum for AAP since late December, as The Citizen reports have indicated. The urban poor, the lower middle class, the auto-rickshaw drivers, the Dalits and the Muslims are part of a large mix that seems to be consolidating behind Kejriwal. Every day closer to February 7 seems to be helping the voters crystallise their decisions, and currently the atmospherics are very much like the last Assembly elections when the turtle (AAP) started to overtake the hare (BJP) through sheer perseverance.

Bedi is feeling the heat and has filed a legal suit against Kejriwal for branding her ‘opportunist’ in AAP posters. She and the BJP is counting on the four campaign meetings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the hope that he will turn the tide. She herself is confident, however, as she has said in an interview that there is a wave for her in Delhi. However, the wave to be effective has to cut into the leaner pockets of the capital that she has still to touch. Besides Kejriwal’s matter-of-fact opposition is in sharp contrast to her angry responses, his latest being the disclosure in an interview that he fell out with her over differences over then BJP president Nitin Gadkari. The implication was clear, that Bedi was always soft on the BJP.

All in all, the stage seems to be getting set for another close battle between AAP and the BJP. The Congress party has shrunk further, and despite a valiant effort by Ajay Maken it is unlikely to make a noticeable dent in the vote. The BJP is relying on PM Modi, Bedi and the party organisation that has been bolstered by the RSS cadres and its affiliates. For AAP it is Kejriwal at the help, with the workers making up for a serious paucity of funds with house to house campaigns in every locality. Students from the Universities have volunteered to help, as have activists from both within and outside Delhi. AAP certainly cannot complain about a scarcity of volunteers.

Bedi’s temperament, volatile and fast to fly off the handle, is being seen as a bit of a problem within the BJP. It is too early, however, to say whether she has backfired on the BJP but not too early to say that she is certainly not proving to be an asset.