Arvind Kejriwal faces a tough fight on Feb 7
The BJP's nomination of Ms Kiran Bedi as its chief ministerial candidate for Delhi has breathed life into its poll campaign. It might just prove to be that one crucial move that definitively shifts the electoral balance in its favour. Up until now, the BJP's biggest drawback has been the absence of a strong State-level leader to counter the largely personality-driven campaign of the Aam Aadmi Party.
Mr Arvind Kejriwal, the AAP chief, kickstarted the Delhi campaign by training his guns on Mr Jagdish Mukhi, the BJP leader who served as leader of the Opposition during the Sheila Dikshit years, even though there was little to suggest at that time that he would be appointed Delhi’s Chief Minister in case of a BJP victory.
More recently, AAP was shifting its focus to the BJP's State unit chief Satish Upadhyay, who as it now turns out, is not even contesting the February 7 election. Nevertheless, there was a perceptible damage that the BJP was suffering (and it was beginning to show in pre-poll surveys).
Yes, the party tried to fill the void by projecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the face of the campaign but even his most ardent supporter in Delhi will admit that a more local, and perhaps more rooted, rallying point was needed to ensure that voters who believe in the BJP's agenda of growth, development and good governance actually go out on polling day and press the lotus button on the voting machine. It is in this context that Ms Bedi’s candidature has the potential to make all the difference.
Not only does Ms Bedi provide a ‘Delhi face' that can counter Mr Kejriwal at the street level, Ms Bedi is also the most effective opposition that he could have possibly faced in the city-State. If Mr Kejriwal is pitching himself as an honest and upright leader, Ms Bedi is known for her personal integrity. One may even argue that Ms Bedi, who shot to the limelight decades ago after towing away then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's illegally parked car, has been an inspirational public figure to all Indians, long before Mr Kejriwal, piggy-backing on Anna Hazare's anti-corruption campaign, fashioned himself as the aam aadmi's messiah.
Ms Bedi also has Mr Kejriwal's ‘outsider appeal'. like him, she too is a former public servant, and indeed a more distinguished officer than him, and importantly, not a career politician. Finally, Ms Bedi was not-too-long-ago Mr Kejriwal's colleague at the India Against Corruption campaign. This will make it difficult for the AAP camp to attack her, especially on the personal integrity count, which is its biggest selling point. At best, Ms Bedi can be ‘legitimately' criticised for political inconsistency. But it's difficult to see how the AAP can make that charge stick, as Mr Kejriwal himself is battling charges of running away from responsibility.
The emergence of Ms Bedi as the BJP's leading candidate was being widely discussed ever since she joined the party last week. However, there were no guarantees at that time that she would take the top spot. After all, for any new member of a political party, to be anointed the leading electoral candidate within days of joining the outfit, marks a meteoric rise. Ms Bedi's appointment is an almost unprecedented development in recent Indian politics; and it makes for an especially unique case because the BJP is a strong, cadre-based party and, generally speaking, the least likely to open itself up to such lateral entrants.