#dnaEdit: Signs of nervousness

Kiran Bedi’s high-profile entry into the Bharatiya Janata Party and subsequent anointment as the party’s chief ministerial candidate in Delhi is quite uncharacteristic for the party which has long preferred its loyal soldiers over opportunistic outsiders for plum posts. The BJP has never announced a chief ministerial candidate in the states going to polls where the incumbent government is not its own. More unprecedented is the decision to project, as chief ministerial candidate, a person who was a rank outsider until the other day. Till a week ago, the party appeared resolved on going to the polls banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi as its sole face for the elections. Seen from that light, the BJP appears to be lacking in confidence or is worried about shifting equations on the ground. Even the decision to field Bedi from a “safe seat” like Krishna Nagar that Union minister Harshvardhan has assiduously nurtured over two decades, averting a titanic clash with Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal in the prestigious New Delhi constituency, speaks volumes. Kejriwal, who faced the prospect of a close contest from a predominantly middle-class constituency comprising, mostly, government employees, has now been allowed an easy ride to polling day. It is unlikely that the 30-year-old former student leader Nupur Sharma, despite her impressive educational qualifications, can match the iconic status enjoyed by Kejriwal and Bedi.

Kejriwal, who appeared decidedly nervous even while welcoming Bedi into politics, seems to have sensed this wariness in the BJP ranks. His invitation to Bedi and Congress leader Ajay Maken for a public debate was timely and something that resonates with both the public and the TRP-hungry media. Kejriwal’s offer appears to have caught Bedi and the BJP off-guard. After initially declaring that she was ready for a debate, even though adding the rider that they could do so in the assembly, Bedi backed away completely from a public debate saying that she preferred to deliver rather than debate. In contrast, Maken, representing a decimated Congress party that is struggling to remain relevant in Delhi, has wisely jumped at the offer. If the Kejriwal-Maken debate is to take place, uncomfortable questions will be asked of Bedi and the BJP about why they chose to skip what will clearly be a televised spectacle. Merely brushing off such a debate as frivolous indulgence and of no consequence to the Delhi voter will not help in this first instance of two frontline leaders of two leading parties agreeing to a public debate. While Kejriwal had pressed for public debates earlier too, his erstwhile adversaries, Sheila Dikshit and Harshvardhan during the previous Delhi polls, and Modi and Rahul Gandhi during the Lok Sabha polls, had rejected the idea. 

Though the BJP has hedged its bets by Bedi’s inclusion, an element of vulnerability has crept in with the discontent expressed by Jagdish Mukhi and Manoj Tewari. However, with Modi and Amit Shah enjoying unquestioned loyalty from the BJP cadre, senior BJP leaders can be expected to grin and bear Bedi’s ascendancy. The larger worry for the BJP is to what extent, the AAP continues to eat into the Congress votebank. From 24 per cent in the last assembly polls, the Congress vote share declined to 15 per cent in the Lok Sabha polls while the AAP’s rose from 29 to 33 per cent. With the Congress clearly in a state of decline, the BJP realises that if AAP were to seize power in Delhi, Kejriwal will pose a strong political challenge to the Modi government. Opinion polls indicate a BJP advantage, but the ruling party’s actions indicate that the elections are getting too close to call.