The past invariably catches up with a candidate, and it seems to be in a tearing hurry to catch up with Kiran Bedi. One of her campaign managers on Monday resigned in protest against her autocratic functioning.
Though the poll manager in question was a small-time functionary who, from all accounts, is known to throw tantrums at the drop of a hat, the resignation has got intertwined with the other disconcerting voices within the BJP over Bedi’s style of functioning. Most of this is a throwback to her no-nonsense stint as an IPS officer.
The lack of disconnect between Bedi and her party rank and file was more than apparent from the outset. It has a lot to do with her officious outlook and attempts to police the cadres and weld them into a disciplined mass. Party president Amit Shah had expected the middle rung worker to fall in line and reconcile to her leadership but the rancour runs deeper than he imagined. Also, Bedi is finding it difficult to make a dent in what has been until now an exclusive male preserve.
With Bedi at the helm, party workers, who are used to a modicum amount of internal democracy, can see the ground slipping from under their feet. The real problems will crop up in case the BJP’s performance is below par and Delhi is again saddled with a hung assembly. The first person who is likely to be overthrown in that case would be Bedi.
With things veering out of control within, the BJP desperation is showing on the outside and is manifesting in what is becoming a personal tirade against Arvind Kejriwal. The latest cartoon on Kejriwal lampooning his Aggarwal community — describing it in zest as an ‘Updravi’ (nuisance causing) gotra” — is a case in point.
That, in turn, has given a politically astute Kejriwal the excuse to play the political victim. He bemoaned on Monday, “The BJP targeted my children in their ad, but I didn’t react… then the BJP started launching personal attacks on me through their ads, but today they have referred to the entire Agarwal Samaj as ‘Updravi’.”
Clearly, Kejriwal is happy at the turn of events: the public perceives it as an attempt to crucify him, and the AAP leader hopes to exploit the sentiment to the hilt. The Aggarwal community in Delhi is not too happy with the BJP government at the Centre warming up to FDI in retail and the ‘Bania’ is up in arms. All these hardcore BJP voters are leaning towards Kejriwal who wears his ‘Bania’ credentials up his sleeve.
The BJP has, meanwhile, defended the poll advertisement reasoning that the so-called obnoxious references were a figure of speech to which Kejriwal was giving a casteist twist. The explanation, incidentally, came from BJP leader Piyush Goel, who is from the same community as Kejriwal. He also used the occasion to attack the AAP on a host of extraneous issues, such as Prashant Bhushan’s take on referendum in Kashmir, the Batla House encounter, etc.
With the fidgety BJP going on the back foot yet again, it is apparent that the party is still to perfect the art of playing the AAP googly on the front foot.
