With the announcement of Kiran Bedi officially joining the BJP, senior leaders and the convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have been targeting the retired IPS officer. In a tweet that came moments after Bedi’s official announcement, party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said he had also tried to convince her to join politics and now that she has, he’s happy for her.
Bedi parted ways with Kejriwal after he decided to float a political party in October 2012 and was severely critical of his decision. “I have been fond of Kiran Bedi. I always tried to convince her that she should join politics. I am happy she did it,” said Kejriwal on the microblogging site Twitter. Nonetheless, the reactions coming from the party are varied as senior party leader Sanjay Singh termed Bedi’s joining BJP as “shocking”. He said, “It is sad and shocking that Bedi, who had been maintaining that she will always remain apolitical and keep raising the issues of people, has joined the BJP. Our best wishes are with her.”
Kejriwal had even invited her to join AAP and be the party’s chief ministerial candidate before Assembly polls in 2013, which she had declined. Bedi on Thursday said she joined BJP due to the inspirational leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Bedi was highly critical of Kejriwal, especially when he staged a dharna outside the Rail Bhavan during his 49-day governance. She had been hailing Modi and supporting BJP through her Twitter posts since the start of campaign for lok Sabha polls last year.