BJP banks on new cop didi

A new ‘didi’ has arrived on India’s political firmament. The leadership of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that Kiran Bedi has just joined has sent out a word to its lawmakers and cadres alike that she must be addressed as such. No more “Bedi Ji” or “Kiran Ji”.

In this diminutive but tough woman, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has found a perfect foil and his party a mascot for the Delhi Assembly elections due February 7.

These elections are crucial to BJP. Modi has warned that a ‘hung’ Delhi Assembly, like it happened in December 2013, would send “wrong signals” across the country, especially Bihar that goes to the polls later this year.

In Bedi, BJP has found a way to hold down squabbling factions in its Delhi unit. It has not shied away from experimenting in the past. Appointing Sushma Swaraj was one, although the party lost the polls, one of the issues being high-priced onions. The ‘Didi’ diktat indicates that both BJP and Modi mean business. So does Bedi who, ignoring opposition to her arrival, began by courting Delhi MPs, no less.

BJP remains the front-runner in Delhi, given its record in the last eight months. But serious challenge comes from Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). AAP had not only stunned the Congress, in power for 15 years in December 2013, but also stopped the BJP in its track, to capture power. Now that Bedi is formally anointed the chief ministerial candidate before the polls, it will be a contest between her and Kejriwal.

Both civil society leaders, they should infuse fresh ideas, not forthcoming from professional politicians. That the two worked together in Anna Hazare’s anti-graft movement before parting ways only adds grist to the contest already underway. She stayed close to Anna and spurned joining AAP. Many thought she had missed the bus. But hers is better timing, considering Kejriwal’s meteoric rise and quick self-eclipse. He remained the Chief Minister for just 49 days and then lost the Lok Sabha elections to Modi.

Although Bedi’s joining BJP is no surprise, that she has done it to rival Kejriwal, is significant. Despite a cryptic welcome, the latter has betrayed a sense of anger and alarm. Why the Congress, still struggling to revive its fortunes, has slammed Bedi’s entry remains inexplicable. Perhaps, it hoped to play the king-maker again. But with its cadres remaining demoralised, it lost Krishna Tirath, a cabinet minister in UPA government, who crossed over to the BJP.

Bedi bears some comparison and contrast with other ‘Didis’. Unlike Mayawati and Mamata Banerjee who directly joined hardcore politics and are established players, Bedi is a new entrant. But she is no novice to governance, to media limelight and to public adulation, besides a Magsaysay Award that other Didis cannot claim. And she is not new to governance.

As the first woman who dared to join the Indian Police Service despite opposition from official quarters, she thought and acted tough in the past. She resigned as a senior police officer when her ambition to become Delhi Police Commissioner was thwarted by the UPA Government. Apparently, she was found too vocal and pro-active. She did not fit the traditional role of Delhi police chief, called Kotwal till the 1857 uprising when Delhi became the centre of rebellion. As history shows, kotwal was always the one who loyally protected the ruler, without nursing one’s own ambition.

Although an Amtitsar-born Sikh and married to one, Bedi is a ‘local’ in that she served a large part of her career, policing Delhi. As in charge of traffic, she would regulate rush-hour traffic ordering drivers through a loud speaker from her constantly moving car. She was good at controlling rallies and demonstrations.

Smart, appearing sincere and diligent, this former policewoman was always the darling of the media which blacked out her defiance of the government in Mizoram, where she was posted as the Inspector General. She sought and secured a seat in a medical college for her daughter that was reserved for Mizo tribal candidates.

There is no denying her diligence and ability to deliver, even under adverse circumstances. As the chief of Tihar jail, the country’s biggest, she introduced Yoga classes and vocational activities that continue even now. Vocational training has turned into a major, high-profile commercial activity with “TJ” (Tihar Jail) as its brand name, producing and marketing a wide variety of consumer goods. Why, Tihar Jail Complex even has a restaurant boasting of good food and a good clientele.

Besides Bedi, Delhi, the most populated urban agglomerate with a whopping 16 million population, is also throwing up more women in the elections. One of them is Sharmishtha Mukherjee, the President’s daughter. The Congress hopes to gain from the political debut of this Bharat Natyam danseuse. But her own victory from the posh Greater Kailash locality, where the Mukherjees have a private home is a tough task.

Shazia Ilmi, the TV anchor-turned politician, seems on a revenge trip. Given seats she did not want to contest and eventually lost in the assembly and the Lok Sabha polls, she is breathing fire at AAP and Kejriwal. It is advantage BJP, with a Dalit Tirath, a Sikh Bedi and a Muslim Ilmi.

The BJP may add to its cavalcade Telugu actor Jayaprada, who has moved from Telugu Desam to Samajwadi Party and to a faction of it under her mentor Amar Singh, has reportedly been in talks. But there is no clear word with a fortnight to go for the polls. At a mega rally he addressed on Delhi’s outskirts, Modi told voters why they must vote for BJP and not AAP. "We need development here, not anarchy. They are good at dharnas... we are good at running government," he said alluding to Kejriwal's chosen method of protest even while he was the Chief Minister.

Times are a-changing, causing some amnesia. Forgetting how the BJP fuelled the anti-graft movement targeting the Manmohan Singh government, Modi said of Kejriwal: “Those who are adept at sitting on footpaths, blocking traffic and launching agitations, they should be doing just that.”

Fine, Mr Modi! Taking your word for “good governance,” we hope you will deliver, whether or not your party wins.

Delhi has been the coveted seat of India’s political power for centuries. It has seen kings and kingdoms come and go. It has seen anarchy. As it makes a bid for a heritage city of the UNESCO, these elections and their outcome will only be a drop in the ocean of time.

By: Mahendra Ved