What happened to gutsy Kiran Bedi? She's playing it too safe with Kejriwal

Is Kiran Bedi scared of Arvind Kejriwal? The no-nonsense cop who carefully cultivated the image of a gutsy woman willing to take on the establishment is showing uncharacteristic signs of weakness. The people of Delhi have an image of Bedi. For many she is a the upright ‘Crane Bedi’ for issuing a challan to prime minister Indira Gandhi’s car; the ‘Iron Lady’ woman who ran after violent protesters during a Delhi agitation and an outspoken activist who dared the Parliament from Ramleela Maidan to try her for breach of privilege. To borrow the title of a failed Rani Mukherjee film, Bedi is known to be a Mardani; the Jhansi ki Raani of Indian khakhi-dom. [caption id=“attachment_2055145” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Where’s the Kiran Bedi the Delhi voters know and love?[/caption] For a very brief period, in the buildup to her anointment as the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate, Bedi appeared to be living up to the image. While the media salivated over a Kejriwal vs Bedi duel in the New Delhi constituency, the ex-cop played along, hinting she was willing to take the ex-CM head-on. Game on, we thought, and braced ourselves for the clash of the Titans, a winner-takes-it-all contest. Now she has backed down. First, she chose the safest possible seat in Delhi for launching her career. And then, after blocking Kejriwal on Twitter, she wriggled out of a public debate. This certainly is not the Bedi we have known. Krishna Nagar— her constituency, is a BJP bastion. Since 1998, its voters have elected the BJP’s Harsh Vardhan in every election. Except for 2008, the BJP’s margin of victory has been huge and its vote share has been around 55 percent. So, to use a popular political phrase, even a lamp post would have won from Krishna Nagar on the BJP symbol. Discretion is the better part of valour and Bedi may be right in evading a contest that would have consumed all her energy, time and focus. As Amit Shah rightly pointed out, the BJP has chosen a ‘traditional’ seat so that Bedi may concentrate on all of Delhi. But, consider the counter argument, and its principal exponent: Kejriwal. In the 2013 election, when Kejriwal decided to contest against Sheila Dikshit from Gol Market (now New Delhi), it immediately changed the contours of the election firing up the AAP cadre and pushing the Congress on the backfoot. Had Bedi decided to contest from New Delhi, wouldn’t it have forced Kejriwal to forget Delhi and concentrate on his own backyard; just as he got pinned down in Varanasi because of his foolhardy attempt to wrestle Modi? There could have been advantages and disadvantages of a direct fight. And perhaps Bedi and BJP are justified in choosing the safer, saner option. But why is Bedi wriggling out of a public debate, especially when both AAP and the Congress are ready? Since the election in Delhi has become more and more presidential, almost like the electoral battles in the US, the time for a debate beamed out live to a primarily urban audience has come. Now that Kejriwal is more than willing, Bedi could have changed the course of electoral history by accepting the challenge. Bedi is new to politics; we know nothing about her ideology or political philosophy. A few years ago, she was opposed to joining politics, before that she had panned all politicians and incurred the wrath of the Parliament; her stance on Modi and the BJP has undergone many changes and very little is known about her plan for Delhi except that she believes in changing it through six Ps: politicians, priests, parents, press, people and prosecution. A TV debate would indeed have been a good idea to introduce Delhi to politician Bedi. Also, Kejriwal is not a great public speaker. Unlike Modi, who has the skills, words, body language and personality to demolish his rivals with words, Kejriwal isn’t exactly a made-for-TV politician. Kejriwal can hold a conversation, but he can’t sway masses with the power of his words. So, why is Bedi reluctant? AAP leader Ashutosh claims that Bedi is afraid to take on Kejriwal because she is new to politics and is not aware of its problems and challenges. An irate Sambit Patra argued that this is just a publicity stunt. “For the past two years we have seen only drama, dharna and debate in Delhi,” Patra said. Bedi has a different explanation. She says the time for debate is over and delivery has come. But she is running ahead of time. Elections are all about dialogue, ideas and sound bytes. While the campaign is on, Bedi is expected to explain her vision. She will be expected to deliver only when she wins the election and becomes the CM. But for that to happen, Bedi would have to show us little more of the trait we have always associated with her: the courage to charge at her rivals, a danda in hand.