On counting day eve for Delhi Assembly elections, Delhi BJP’s chief ministerial nominee Kiran Bedi chose to spend her day with party workers. On Monday, she organised an “abhaar sabha” (thanksgiving) for the karyakartas to whom she distributed a comic that chronicles her life so far along with a feedback form. At a time when exit polls have indicated a clear majority for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bedi, for some reason, restricted her speech largely to the constituency from where she has contested — Krishna Nagar.
With Union Minister Harsh Vardhan quietly sitting beside her, Bedi called Krishna Nagar a breeding ground for diseases. “I will start a Swachchh Krishna Nagar Mission as the constituency is currently strewn with filth and overflowing drains. Citizen policing will begin first from Krishna Nagar in Delhi. Every locality here will compete with each other for cleanliness and award shall be given to residents who keep their area cleanest and most beautiful,” she said, while explaining how she would bring in development in the area.
Talking about the mesh of wires between matchbox-like buildings running across the narrow lanes of the constituency, the former IPS officer said she would make all overhead electric (OHE) wires underground. The constituency from where Dr Harsh Vardhan has been a five-time MlA will also get a call centre where residents could register complaints, she said. “I am just waiting to formally become an MlA to begin work,” Bedi maintained at the event held at a banquet hall in East Delhi’s Karkarduma area.
Each worker returned home with a comic, which mostly narrates her achievements from being an Asian lawn tennis champion to being an IPS officer. It also had tips on good parenting as Bedi emphasised that she owed her career to her parents. “This booklet will tell you how to become sincere parents. A seed doesn’t know anything and cannot choose its gardener. It is the gardener who gives the seed shape. I am what I am because of my parents,” she said.
The administrator-turned-politician also asked the 300 odd workers to give feedback, the form for which asked three important questions — “Your contribution in the 2015 Assembly elections”, “What has been your good practiceIJ” and “What are your suggestionsIJ” “Kiran Bedi intends to form a comprehensive database of party workers to aid her in her public work in Krishna Nagar,” a worker said.
Talking about her hectic electioneering campaign ahead of the Assembly polls, Bedi said that her goal was to bring a BJP-led Government in Delhi. “In the 17 days I got, I covered 45 constituencies, 180 wards and travelled 1,800-km all over Delhi. I travelled on tempos, trucks, jeeps, whatever vehicle I was given during my roadshows. I took all the jerks, which came along with it. I would breathe in dust and pollution, but there was just one thought in my mind, that we have to bring a BJP-led Government in Delhi,” she said.
Replying to queries about the timing of the ceremony, Bedi said it had been planned only to express her gratitude and had nothing to do with the results. “I was asked why this Abhaar Samaroh when results are yet to be outIJ It is only for conveying my gratitude, it is not linked to the result. We had to work and we worked to the best of our abilities with ‘tan, man and dhan’. Now the result is in God’s hands,” she said.
“I am not nervous about the results. I have been a police officer and hence, I know how to handle a situation. Whatever happens will happen for the good. I was a national tennis champion at the age of 20. I played matches for the country across the world and in India. This is not even a real match,” she added.
Vardhan exuded confidence that Bedi will emerge victorious on Tuesday. “The day the (BJP) parliamentary board decided to field her, I was very happy that Krishna Nagar will get such a high-profile candidate. From tomorrow, when she becomes your MlA, even my burden would be lessened about the development of this constituency, from where you people have elected me five times before,” Vardhan said.