#IRunBedi: Kiran Bedi's Times Now interview proves she's right not to debate with Kejriwal

Yesteday, Kiran Bedi ducked twice. First she refused to debate Arvind Kejriwal. Then she abruptly exited an Arnab Goswami interview on Times Now. Neither move seemed wise for a Chief Ministerial candidate hoping to paint her rival as the bhagora – as evidenced by the now trending Twitter hashtag #IRunBedi. But sometimes wisdom lies in the knowledge of one’s own limitations. Let’s face it: Kiran Bedi is a loose cannon with loose lips. She has a tendency to babble and veer constantly off subject and script, at times with unfortunate results. For example: The infamous performance during the Lokpal protests, where she donned a dupatta on the Ram Leela stage to pantomime corrupt politicians. At the time, her antics were dubbed “vulgar”, “vituperative” and “grotesque”. [caption id=“attachment_2056939” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  PTI[/caption] She likely doesn’t mean to be anything of the sort – viewing herself, no doubt, as an upright and disciplined former police officer – but her enthusiasm can often sweep all good sense right out of her head. She hasn’t committed a Ram Leela-sized boo boo since, but her verbosity continues to inspire, at best, amusement. (As when she dubbed the Prime Minister the “most beautiful face” in the world, which is the kind of compliment that does little good to both the speaker and the object of her praise.) Take for instance the verbal gems captured by this Buzzfeed list titled “12 Quotes That Prove Kiran Bedi Would Be Awesome To Get High With”. What’s more telling is that a number of them – including “Do you want me to visit again? We will meet in a different way now” – are from her speech at the BJP headquarters soon after she was named as the CM candidate. That little noticed outing was an exercise in embarrassment, and showcased Bedi’s fatal weakness as a political speaker. While this NDTV article airbrushes the atmospherics of the event, this ABP video bares the mortifying reality of the reception she received from her own party. The camera repeatedly pans over the bored and distracted faces of the leaders in the audience which is far too busy talking amongst themselves to pay heed to Bedi. She is reduced to alternately begging and bullying them into attention. “Aap meri taraf dekho. Main baat kar rahi hoon. Dekhiye main itni energy aapko de rahi hoon. Kamaskam aap mujhe aap directly dekho aur suno,” (Please look at me. I am speaking. See, I am giving so much energy to you. At least, look at me directly and listen) she says, but to little avail. “Can we sit down? I am getting a little disturbed. Just give me ten more minutes and I will finish. Can I have your attention? Thank you!” she complains soon after, until she finally loses patience, declaring, “Saathiyon, aapko entertainment chahiye, to bahar chale jao.” (If you want entertainment, please go out.) Setting aside the lack of basic courtesy shown by the Delhi BJP leaders, her struggling performance reveals Bedi’s own shortcomings. She lectures her audience, often addressing them like children in a classroom, more so when they seem to defy her. And unlike Modi or even a Kejriwal, she seems unable to deliver a rousing political speech, lapsing instead into vague cliches about social change that may sound fine at a keynote speech in a conference but are entirely out of place at a political rally. Hence, she was comfortable answering Arnab Goswami’s questions as long as she could resort to alliterative banalities such as “new perspectives, new vision, new methodology, new thinking, new ideology, new approach.” But when the tone became confrontational, as when he accused her of being “too diplomatic,” Bedi ran off at a tangent, rambling about the virtues of the Indian Foreign Service. Asked about the BJP’s criticism of the Lokpal movement, Bedi lapsed into muddled self-praise: “I have stayed back in India when I had overseas scholarships available. I’ve stayed back in India to serve the Indian Police Service out of love and dedication to the service. I love my India.” Then, of course, came the classic moment when she triumphantly waved a blue file labeled ‘Modi’ as proof of her ideological consistency. The file, which turned out to be no more than a collection of newspaper clippings, was amusing, but hardly convincing. Bedi came across as a goofy aunty than a hard-nosed administrator – which she has indeed been in the past. The final blow to her image as a no-nonsense, tough cookie came when she promptly tore off the mike the moment Arnab asked about her previous comments on BJP leaders Gopinath Munde and Ananth Kumar – who she had famously heckled from the Ram Leela stage. “I have to go on to another channel. I can’t go on,” she said and walked out 15 minutes ahead of schedule. And that sums up Bedi’s real problem: She poses the greatest danger to her own hard-earned reputation. Bedi’s image promises a gravitas that her personality does not possess. It’s all very well to inanely ramble on Twitter or as a TV personality, or retreat into school mistress mode when cornered, but such verbal tics become serious deficits in the political arena where message discipline is key. And all the more so in the context of a no-holds-barred debate. So no wonder Kejriwal wants to provoke Bedi into a confrontation, and no wonder she refused. Bedi is wise and entirely right to do so. The BJP would be equally wise to appoint a full-time minder for their CM candidate to vet all her interviews and speeches. Or else, we can all look forward to a highly entertaining campaign ahead.