Opinion The new Delhi
Kiran Bedi as BJP mascot suggests that parties need leaders to match evolving politics
Kiran Bedi’s move to join the BJP and contest elections could spice up the approaching Delhi polls. Bedi, who has announced her willingness to fight AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on his own turf, may become the face of the BJP campaign. Bedi versus Kejriwal could turn the campaign into a high-voltage presidential-style contest and force a shift in the capital’s politics. Bedi, like Kejriwal and many AAP leaders, has not entered politics through the traditional party route, but by making a mark as a professional and a civil society activist.Delhi has symbolic value and will be keenly contested by the BJP and the AAP.
The template for Delhi 2015 was set in 2011, when Anna Hazare launched his anti-corruption campaign. Hazare offered fuzzy politics, but his activism set the agenda for the Delhi assembly election in 2013 and the 2014 general election. His associates Kejriwal, Bedi, Yogendra Yadav and Manish Sisodia, among others, gained national attention during the campaign and, barring Bedi, they soon joined electoral politics. Kejriwal had to float the AAP to fight for office since he was dismissive of all existing parties.
Ironically, Bedi, who had faulted Kejriwal for entering electoral politics, has chosen the BJP, which she had criticised during the Hazare campaign. So now the star cast of the anti-corruption movement, with the exception of Hazare and Santosh Hegde, will be in the thick of elections. Electoral politics is the legitimate route to represent people and influence policy in a democracy. So, join the party.
People like Kejriwal and Bedi have caught the public fancy because they offer a new kind of leadership. They are seen as strong leaders untainted by corruption and capable of addressing the challenges of a fast-growing city. That a cadre-based party like the BJP wants to invest in Bedi is evidence of shifting ground and the anxieties of parties about leaders who have risen from the ranks: would they be sure-footed in the new terrain? Caste and kinship do matter but they are no longer overriding factors in determining poll outcomes.
The emphasis has shifted to governance and voters seem to prefer leaders who promise change from politics as usual. Parties have recognised the demographic shift towards youth and the potential of women voters. The AAP, with unconventional campaigns that stress civic issues, women’s safety, jobs, education and public consultation in policy matters, has transformed voter expectations. The BJP has tried to match the pitch, and the entry of Bedi may give it a leg up.
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