The resignation by Narendra Tandon, campaign in-charge for party chief ministerial nominee Kiran Bedi, and later his withdrawal of the same on Monday left many questioning about the “unity” within the party, especially among its “workers” after the induction of the former IPS officer.
As the top leadership is pulling out all the stops in the final three days to counter the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and ensure a comfortable victory in the February 7 Assembly polls, the plan of projecting Bedi as its CM has begun to backfire in its own party ranks.
As Bedi’s campaign in-charge, Tandon said in his letter to BJP president Amit Shah that he worked closely and “selflessly” for her in the last 11 days. Further, he accused Bedi of adopting a “dictatorial” attitude and that it was becoming difficult for him to work with her. He also added that he was hurt with the fact that Bedi, who had beaten up BJP workers ruthlessly injuring many, is now ruling them.
In an effort to downplay Tandon’s resignation, the BJP said that he was only a coordinator of the party. The Delhi unit of the party even claimed that Tandon has a habit of resigning and had done so in the past too.
But, Tandon is not the first and only person who expressed his resentment for the party “parachuting” Bedi by not only giving her a ticket from Krishna Nagar, but also declaring her as its CM designate. Protests broke out at Delhi BJP’s office a day after its national election committee declared the list of candidates and left out its State unit president Satish Upadhyay. While he had earlier expressed his eagerness to contest the polls, later Upadhyay maintained that his aim was to ensure victory in all the 70 constituencies and that fighting elections was never in his agenda.
Even before Bedi being the party’s CM candidate was announced, she eloquently spoke of her priorities for the Capital and how she would use her 40 years of administrative experience to use for the task. For almost a week since she was declared by Shah as the party’s face, she repeatedly addressed voters during her rallies only to later lose her voice owing to a “nagging throat infection.” She communicated only through microblogging website Twitter and continues to do so, except during rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Despite all the odds with exit polls indicating AAP having an edge and leaders of its state unit being nearly invisible (except the president and the seven MPs), the BJP is confident of an “astonishing win”. Senior BJP leader and in-charge of Delhi polls, Prabhat Jha said, “BJP is winning and we will debate about the AAP’s tall claims after the result on February 10. Our internal surveys are suggesting a comfortable victory for us.”