Delhi polls: Bedi’s campaign manager Narendra Tandon quits BJP, then retracts

New Delhi: Why did Narendra Tandon, the campaign manager for Kiran Bedi, the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate in Delhi, resign? While Tandon says he was unable to take the ‘dictatorial’ style of functioning of Bedi any more, the party says he has a ‘habit of resigning’. However, hours after his resignation made news, Tandon withdrew it, with reports suggesting that he will apologise to Amit Shah. “I took the responsibility of managing her (Bedi’s) electoral campaign on the request of party president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Modi. But I could not tolerate her unnecessary intervention in deciding road shows, rallies and public meetings. She wanted me to follow her instructions all the time with which I was not comfortable,” Tandon told Firstpost. [caption id=“attachment_2075397” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  BJP’s Delhi CM candidate Kiran Bedi. PTI[/caption] He further alleged that “she does not want to get out of her comfort zone to address more and more public gatherings and hold road shows. In order to avoid traffic congestions in which she feels suffocated and therefore, she wanted me to decide routes as per her convenience but my responsibility was to decide the route where she can face large crowds and interact with people.” He was also not happy with her and aides ‘behaviour’. “I was also not happy with the way in she dictated instructions to party workers. Her personal staff used to insult me,” said the disgruntled leader. “In power lust, the BJP inducted such a person and declared her as CM candidate who had ordered lathi charge on the then party chief Madan Lal Khurana who was leading a protest of party workers against the assault of Tis Hazari court’s agitating lawyers,” he alleged. In his resignation letter, which is in exclusive possession of Firstpost, he also alleged that “one of the organisational secretaries of the party is only interested in women and money”. He has requested the party chief Shah to look into the matter. Refusing to comment on the resignation, Bedi said, “I do not have any information on this.” The BJP said his resignation will not affect its prospects as he was a “low level” worker and his performance was also “not impressive”. “His record as a party functionary is not impressive. He is a frustrated man and has always created trouble for the party in the past as well. He had once filed nomination against party candidate Rajni Abbi in the 2013 assembly polls in Timarpur constituency. His quitting will not at all affect the party,” Delhi BJP media in charge Praveen Shankar Kapoor said. Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana said, “This is the third time when he has resigned. There is no conflict within the party.” Contrary to the claims made by Khurana and Kapoor, the unrest within the party came in wide open soon after Bedi’s induction and declaring her as the chief ministerial nominee. Supporters of Delhi BJP unit president Satish Upadhyay and other leaders staged a protest outside party the party headquarters at Pundit Pant Marg and chanted slogans against the party leadership. They also said that they will not “tolerate a parachute CM”. Tandon was former secretary of the Delhi BJP and a permanent invitee to its executive committee. He was given the additional responsibility of managing Bedi’s campaign soon after her induction into the party. He was general secretary of Delhi University’s Students Union (DUSU) in late 1990s.