Kiran Bedi puts BJP scarf around Lala Lajpat Rai’s statue; spare the freedom fighter, says Kejriwal

Bedi will contest assembly elections from Krishna Nagar constituency, which is a BJP stronghold.

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Kiran Bedi after offering the party scarf at the statue of Lala Lajpat Rai during her nomination filing procession for Assembly elections. (Source: PTI photo)

BJP chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi today stoked a controversy by putting her party’s scarf around the statue of freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai in Krishna Nagar, which drew sharp criticism from AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal.

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Before filing her nomination, Bedi paid tribute to Lala Lajpat Rai, cleaned his statue in Krishna Nagar and put a saffron-coloured BJP scarf (patka) having the party symbol around it. However, she removed it from the statue a few minutes later.

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The former IPS officer also met tea and newspaper sellers in Krishna Nagar before taking out her roadshow and inquired about the kind of issues they were facing.

Reacting to the incident, Kejriwal said that she should not “saffronize” the freedom fighters.

“At least spare the freedom fighters. Do not saffronize them. A freedom fighter does not belong to any party, he belongs to the country. We should not divide him into BJP or Congress or this and that party,” Kejriwal told reporters.

Bedi will contest assembly elections from Krishna Nagar constituency, which is a BJP stronghold.

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Delhi will go to Assembly polls on February 7 while the counting of votes will be held on February 10.

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