A reporter was sitting in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Satish Upadhyay's ante room when she saw some sharply dressed men wearing a large number of rings and rudraksh strings walk in to meet him. Milling workers - and the reporter - were all asked to wait. The door was ajar. She heard someone say, on behalf of Upadhyay: "Baba, aap ka vardan chahiya. Inhe bhi aap wahi vardaan deejiye jo aap ne Amit Shah ji ko diya tha". (Baba, he needs your blessings. Please shower him with the same blessings that you bestowed on Amit Shah). The vardaan was sought telephonically.
Whatever the blessings were, clearly they didn't work. Not only was Upadhyay overlooked as a possible chief ministerial candidate, his replacement, feel many in the BJP, is worse. Can Kiran Bedi really lead the BJP to victory in Delhi ? In these circumstances, does the Delhi BJP really want victory?
First, the story of how Bedi became the great white hope of the party. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who has become the BJP's talent scout, invited her to meet him. Party President Amit Shah was present. She insisted on meeting Narendra Modi. She took with her a presentation that had a couple of points beginning with P and a couple of points beginning with S. This represented her vision for Delhi. She was also clear that she would join the BJP only if she was declared the candidate for chief minister. The party agreed to everything. No local BJP leader was consulted or their advice sought.
On the whole, the BJP is a disciplined party. But it is a political party nevertheless, with workers who have the same kinds of aspirations, ambitions and dreams as workers in any other party. Some made their peace with the new dispensation. But many others have made no secret of the fact that they don't like the way a new incumbent was thrust upon them: and they don't really trust her. From a public platform barely 18 months ago, she had heaped scorn on the prevalent patriarchy in political parties, how they held back women and engendered a feudal mindset. Now she's joined forces with them. But those who were at the receiving end of her scathing observations then haven't forgotten them. And they see no reason why they should work towards helping such an individual secure the ultimate prize - the Delhi chief ministership.
One hour before she joined the BJP and 12 hours before she was named the party's chief ministerial candidate, the Delhi BJP office at Pandit Pant Marg had no idea anything like that was afoot. It was only when they heard that Bedi was coming along with Shah to address a press conference did they get an inkling of what was to follow. This was followed by a tea party for BJP leaders that started at 2.30 pm and ended at 3.30 pm. Harsh Vardhan, Delhi BJP's most senior leader, reached a few minutes after 3.30 pm. Bedi had left the venue by then. And the next we hear is, Bedi is contesting the Krishna Nagar seat, that is Harsh Vardhan's locality and part of his Lok Sabha constituency.
Worse was to follow. Convinced that she was a natural leader, Bedi expected everyone to follow her. If party workers were speaking on the phone during a meeting, they were told they could either listen to her or leave the room. She became a chief ministerial candidate even before it was officially announced. And really, really anxious to be endorsed, she announced that she would meet Shanti Bhushan and seek his blessings after he said getting Kiran Bedi was a coup for the BJP. Twelve hours later, he rebuffed her.
When Arvind Kejriwal dumped a non-political movement and joined politics, he took a U-turn. But when she joined the BJP, it was evolution.
The BJP is desperate to win the Delhi election. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is coming to Delhi to address voters from a Friends of Madhya Pradesh in Delhi forum: the BJP claims there are 200,000 voters originally from Madhya Pradesh now living in Delhi. For two months now, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh workers from Madhya Pradesh are camped here, located in 45 constituencies, knocking at every door and campaigning for the party. Other chief ministers will be beating a path to Delhi to seek votes for Bedi in their own language.
For Bedi, security, especially women's safety, is the primary issue. For Kejriwal, freedom from corruption, democracy and justice for the underclass are most important. If latest Aam Aadmi Party defector Shazia Ilmi is to be believed whatever Kejriwal might say about democracy, it is a concept alien to the party. That is a parallel but separate battle. Right now, it is about what the voter seeks.
Bedi can see the same kind of wave for herself that swept the country for Modi. She could be right. But everyone else in the party needs a new set of glasses.
Disclaimer: These are personal views of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of www.business-standard.com or the Business Standard newspaper
