Aide slams Bedi and quits, then does a U-turn to return to fold

Narendra Tandon tendered his resignation saying it was difficult for him to continue working with Kiran Bedi.

BJP Chief Ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi during her election campaign at Taj Enclave Geeta Colony on Thursday. (Source: PTI Photo)

The resignation of a BJP leader, who is in-charge of managing chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi’s schedule, put the Delhi leadership in an embarrassing position on Monday.

Earlier in the day, Narendra Tandon resigned from the party, accusing Bedi of “having a dictatorial attitude”. In a letter to national president Amit Shah, Tandon alleged that he “had been humiliated by Bedi’s staff”.

Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay went ahead and officially accepted Tandon’s resignation, completely unaware that Tandon had by then apologised to the national leadership for the letter.

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“I felt emotional at some point and wrote this letter to the national president. I take my resignation and the letter back,” Tandon said.

At the same time, spokesperson Harish Khurana said Tandon’s allegations were baseless as he had a history of resigning from the party over petty issues.

Before the situation could deteriorate further, the national leadership contacted the Delhi unit and asked leaders not to comment on the matter any further. Meanwhile, Upadhyay had to announce that Tandon’s resignation had not been accepted.

Asked about Bedi, Tandon avoided comment and said he would work as a “dedicated” worker of the party.

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Meanwhile, national secretary and in-charge of rallies Anil Jain, who played an important role in containing the damage done by Tandon’s allegations against Bedi, said the incident should not be politicised.

“Don’t make it an ‘AAP vs BJP’ or a ‘Congress vs BJP’ issue. A worker had some misunderstanding which is now resolved. The matter is over,” Jain said.

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