Ahead of BJP’s crucial meetings of Central Election Committee (CEC) and Parliamentary Board on Monday to choose party candidates and Chief Ministerial nominee for the Assembly election, there are clear indications that newly-inducted Kiran Bedi will be the face of the BJP in the national Capital.
On Sunday, while the party announced that Bedi will do 70 road shows, one in each constituency, beginning on Monday, Bedi held a meeting with all seven Delhi BJP MPs at her residence on Sunday. But all may not be as smooth within the State unit of the party as her sudden entry into the BJP and projection as probable CM candidate have given many senior party leaders heartburns.
A day after meeting the office-bearers of the three municipal corporations, Bedi on Sunday invited all the seven MPs at her residence. The idea, sources say, did not go down well with a few leaders who, nevertheless, called on her so as not to present a fragmented picture of the party at a time when national BJP president Amit Shah is personally looking into the poll preparations.
When asked about the meeting, South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri played it down by saying, “She (Bedi) had invited us for tea. It was nothing but an introductory meet where we (the MPs) discussed about our respective constituencies with her. She will be campaigning in all the 70 constituencies for which a blue print was prepared.”
Several former CM hopefuls are miffed at the national leadership for parachuting Bedi and bypassing the State unit in chalking out the poll strategy in Delhi.
Amit Shah’s team has bypassed these CM hopefuls in leading the poll campaign and is depending more on the grass-roots workers and the MPs who have been assigned poll responsibilities. For instance, Meenakshi lekhi has been asked to campaign not only in New Delhi but also specifically focus on Government employees and women --- the two important vote banks in New Delhi from where Bedi may contest against Kejriwal. likewise, Vijay Goel has been asked to take care of slum, and Ramesh Bidhuri has been given responsibility to supervise party’s campaign in rural Delhi.
Pitching herself among the workers of the party for the first time, Bedi on Sunday addressed around 1,500 booth in-charges of the New Delhi constituency. The fact that she attended the event is being seen as indication that she might contest the polls against AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal from the high-profile seat.
Calling for a stable Government, she said, “The BJP is at the Centre and it is ruling in the three municipal corporations of Delhi. We need the BJP in the Delhi Government now so that there is an alignment in the city among all the three machineries.” “In the absence of the alignment”, she said, “Nahi toh Jantar Mantar garam rahega aur Parliament ke bahar naare roz lagengey.”
A senior leader told The Pioneer on condition of anonymity that the manner in which Bedi is behaving indicates that she will be the CM candidate. “Whether you announce it or not she will be made the in-charge of Delhi poll campaign and that automatically makes her the CM candidate,” said a senior party leader.
The zeal and ideas that the social activist has been floating in the past four days clearly depicts that she is all up to be the Chief Minister of Delhi. The BJP, too, by making her the face for the party has dropped enough hints about its plan. The picture, however, would be clear on Monday when the party’s parliamentary board is supposed to meet.