I have failed the test. And I take full responsibility: Kiran Bedi

“All who called me with foulest possible names, I am relieved my parents were not alive to see this,” Bedi wrote in her blog.

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Bedi’s letter comes at a time when the BJP is still reeling from the rout in Delhi. From 32 seats in the 2013 Assembly elections, the party was reduced to a paltry three seats in the 2015 polls.

Bedi, who stood from BJP’s sure-shot seat Krishna Nagar and lost it, has been blamed by several within the party, and outside, for the defeat. Through her letter, Bedi tries to deflect some of the responsibility for the loss.

“I have failed the test. And I take full responsibility for my decision. But inside me has not failed. …I gave it all the energy and experience I had. Obviously it was not enough. In such situations one does not meet the challenges alone on campaign,” she said.

The blog post is also a complete antithesis to the strategies adopted by her during campaigning.

“We need to rework the way we campaign. The whole city came to a halt. Roads are in disarray. Work just stopped. Everything is too loud… It’s a field for might and muscle in all respects,” writes Bedi, hinting at how roadshows disrupted life in the city. However, during campaigning, Bedi went on numerous roadshows every day, trying cover all 70 constituencies in the few days between her appointment and the polling.

In her open letter, she also found fault with the idea of conducting public meetings.

“Public appeals, through use of congregation, must not be allowed and should be considered a violation of the law. Hence, they must be banned,” she said.

The senior leaders who had opposed Bedi’s appointment as the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate said the letter would not absolve her of the defeat.

“She was part of the system and she needs to understand that she still is a political person. If she wanted to criticise the methods used while campaigning, she should have done it while she was campaigning and not now,” a senior BJP leader said.