From brass band to sweets and garlands, it was a warm welcome for BJP’s chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi in East Delhi’s Krishna Nagar constituency on Wednesday. It was Bedi’s first roadshow in the constituency from where she is going to contest the February 7 Assembly polls, and residents of the constituency seem to have accepted the transfer of leadership from Dr Harsh Vardhan to the first woman IPS officer of the country. Interestingly, women came out in large numbers to catch a glimpse of Bedi.
Bedi started her day with a padayatra in the narrow bylanes of Krishna Nagar, which has become her home constituency. She interacted with tea and newspaper vendors and enquired about the issues they are facing. She tried to convince them that “Krishna Nagar was in safe hands” after being passed down from their “Dr Sahab”. “I am a gardener in the land of Dr Sahab whom you all love and have supported all these years,” she said while urging them to vote for the ‘lotus’.
For the residents of Krishna Nagar, a BJP bastion, it’s a do-or-die situation this time. In the 2013 Assembly polls, they were vouching for Vardhan to be the CM and now Bedi’s anointment has given them another chance to boast of having the CM. “We all will vote for Bedi. She is educated and has years of administrative experience. Krishna Nagar will be lucky to have a Union Minister as well as Delhi’s Chief Minister,” said Uma Yadav, a resident of a lal Kuan.
The Sub-Divisional Magistrate office in Geeta Colony in East Delhi witnessed an unprecedented poll bustle on Wednesday, the last day of filing nominations for the February 7 Delhi Assembly polls. With the supporters of the BJP and Aam Aadmi Party cheering for their leaders who came to file their nomination papers, the mood at the SDM office was electrifying. Supporters of BJP and AAP came face to face, trying to outshine other by shouting slogans.
Dilli Ko Jitana Hain Toh Kiran Bedi ko lana hai, was the chant of the enthusiastic BJP supporters who were waiting for Bedi to arrive to file her nomination. The AAP enthusiasts matched the BJP slogan with, Bhrashtachar Ko Mitana hain toh Kejriwal ko lana hain.Some of the prominent leaders, who filed their nomination on Wednesday, include SK Bagga who is AAP candidate from the same constituency, Vinod Kumar Binny, the BJP candidate from Patparganj who is taking on senior AAP leader and former MlA Manish Sisodia.
Bedi also talked of having a “White Paper” for every Government department and said that Delhi will see a perceptional security index. “Once, we are in power every Government department will give us a White Paper enabling us to find out where we are and where are we beginning from. It will help us find pending issues, newer challenges. The reports will be put on the websites of the departments,” she added.