Delhi needs a leader, not a Thanedar: BJP MP Manoj Tiwari pulled up for dissent

The BJP parliamentary board meeting, which will take place this ( 19 January) evening, will decide on its 70 candidates for the crucial Delhi Assembly polls on 7 February and is likely to make its latest entrant Kiran Bedi in charge of the party’s campaign in the state. But not everyone in the party is pleased with this decision. In what looks like internal strife, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said that Kiran Bedi is a “party worker” and she should behave accordingly, adding that the capital needed a leader, not a thanedar ( Policewoman). According to this NDTV report, Tiwari was given a warning for speaking out of line. [caption id=“attachment_2053315” align=“alignleft” width=“380” class=" “]  Manoj Tiwary. Image courtesy: IBNLive[/caption] “I didn’t like the way she spoke to BJP workers a few days ago.. I wasn’t there…but this is the feedback I’ve got from workers. She should be humble, she has been brought on as a BJP worker. She is not the Chief Ministerial candidate so far,” NDTV quoted the minister as saying. He was further quoted as saying, “We don’t need someone like a thaanedar (policeman). We need a leader who can take everyone along.” Following his comments on Bedi, TV reports said that the minister was summoned by senior BJP leaders for voicing his dissent after an upset Kiran Bedi called the party leadership. Meanwhile, when asked about Tiwari’s thanedaar comment, Kiran Bedi told NDTV that she had the party’s backing and she was not worried about any “dissent”.

On Manoj Tiwari asking Bedi to be humble & not like a "thanedaar" @thekiranbedi says "party with me. Not worried" pic.twitter.com/eSfn5MaNrp

— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) January 19, 2015

_Firstpost_ had earlier reported that the old complaints about an ‘outsider’ – which in 2013 assembly elections persuaded the top brass to pick Harsh Vardhan over Bedi as the BJP chief ministerial candidate – are reportedly back in circulation. There also seems to be some generalised resentment over the fact that although Bedi has already started issuing ‘diktats’ to state party workers. And of course there is the minor issue that state leaders were completely bypassed in the decision to induct her into the party. However, no decision is likely to be taken on the party’s chief ministerial candidate and the names of the candidates could be announced only late on Monday night or Tuesday morning, according to sources. While there has been some unrest within the BJP about Bedi’s inclusion in the party at the highest level directly, the party’s leaders have been saying that they won’t be declaring its chief ministerial candidate just yet. Senior Delhi BJP leader Jagdish Mukhi, once seen as a potential chief ministerial candidate, said that it wouldn’t be the first time that the party would have fought the elections without a face as its potential CM. “The central leadership will decide who CM will be in Delhi,” Mukhi said.