Amit Shah's masterstroke to rope in Kiran Bedi - Can Kejriwal survive the onslaught?

Love him or hate him, BJP President Amit Shah has to be hailed as one of the greatest political masterminds of the current times. While ideologues and experts discuss strategies and look for the big picture in TV studios, Modi's Man Friday is the person who makes the big move to change the complexion of elections.

He did it in Uttar Pradesh by roping in Apna Dal and urging Modi to contest from Varanasi. He did it in Maharashtra by breaking alliance with the Shiv Sena and now he has done it again. The grin during Thursday's press conference said it all. By roping in Kiran Bedi and Shazia Ilmi, Amit Shah has hit AAP where it hurts more. The move is expected to plant seeds of suspicion in the minds of the voters. Ilmi has already threatened to expose AAP, and that is precisely what BJP wants. To make the election murky, to keep the attention away from the core issue of governance and also to tell everyone that Kejriwal is not a great leader, with people revolting against him left right and centre.

The greatest threat for BJP in this election is the constant apprehension that the middle class may again decide to give a chance to Kejriwal. They may think of him as someone like them, who made a mistake but is eager and willing to make genuine change on the ground. He is not a typical politician, more of a breakout kid, challenging the existing norms of the system. What if the 'conscience' of the middle class decides to give him one last chance? These are the questions which are keeping the BJP top brass busy. And by roping in Kiran Bedi, they have tried to find an antidote to it.

In a way, BJP for the first time since May, has been forced to change its strategy. It's default strategy was a Modi blitzkrieg ahead of the election. That coupled with weak opposition and anti-incumbency against the ruling party meant BJP coasting to the pole position easily. But Delhi is a different beast altogether. As mentioned here earlier, the BJP is actually in a position of disadvantage in Delhi. This, along with Kejriwal's relentless campaigning, with anti-corruption as the prevailing tune, means BJP was in urgent need to change the discourse. The first phase of it was done by Narendra Modi. He tried to dissuade the middle class from shifting their loyalty to AAP by raking up the Naxal bogey. Thursday's masterstroke is the second phase of the same operation. Kiran Bedi is a face easily identifiable with the masses. Her credentials are rock solid. So while Kejriwal can take potshots at the likes of Satish Upadhyay, it will be difficult for him to take on Kiran Bedi.

Bedi has given a face to the Delhi BJP which has been eluding them from the last 15 years. The other leaders have to fall in line now. So effectively, the problem of infighting is sorted and the party can go full throttle to challenge Kejriwal. With her cop background, Bedi can also give an elaborate plan to tackle the worsening law and order condition of Delhi.

Now, in Shazia Ilmi, BJP have a 'secular', media-friendly face. She and Bedi will also help to counter the torrent of AAP campaign on social media, where they are currently clearly ahead. Shazia can give a much more centrist mould to BJP's agenda which has taken a hit post irresponsible comments by the likes of Sadhvi Niranjan and Sakshi Maharaj. Already social media is abuzz with screen shots of Ilmi and Bedi's tweets from the past questioning BJP's policies. That will likely to be the de-facto strategy of AAP in the coming days. It is not that the saffron party is unaware of this repercussion, but it is willing to take the risk for a larger goal. It wants to smoothen its rough edges to be more palatable to a larger Delhi population. The party has played its hand. It's time for AAP to come up with an alternative strategy. Kejriwal better buck up, because BJP is coming all out in an attempt to crush him.