In a major turnaround by the BJP, former IPS woman officer Kiran Bedi is set to be projected as the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate in the forthcoming Delhi Assembly polls
According to grapevine , the former IPS officer Kiran Bedi , who has many a time praised Narendra Modi before he became Prime Minister is all set to join the BJP. KIran Bedi’s name cropping up as CM candidate is seen as a snub for Dr Harsh Vardhan. Harsh Vardhan, who was projected as Delhi CM in 2013 had been shifted from a heavy weight Health and Family Welfare Ministry to the low key Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Ministry in the recent cabinet expansion.
Kiran Bedi, the first woman IPS officer,on many occasions has praised Narendra Modi government on Twitter and lauded his Swachh Bharat campaign. Before the December 2013 polls, a section of the BJP was said to be keen on making her the chief ministerial candidate. That move however did not materialise.
Talking to the media in a press conference, Bedi while praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Clean India campaign’ said, “60 saal ki gandagi hai, saaf karne me time toh lagega hi”. “Modi government has won the trust of the people. Educated people have been inducted in the cabinet,” she said.
“No one can be perfect unless and until they are clean. It is the first government that has taken up the issue of cleanliness as a campaign,” she added. The Delhi Police crime branch has filed a closure report in a cheating case against Kiran Bedi. In 2011, Delhi Police’s crime branch registered a case against former IPS officer and Team Anna member Kiran Bedi.
The case was registered under sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code at the crime branch police station. DCP (crime) Ashok Chand confirmed that a case had been registered but made no further comments.
She was accused of misusing funds donated by Microsoft to her trusts, India Vision Foundation and Navjyoti Foundation. She was also accused of buying computers for Rs. 50,000 each against an actual price of `20,000 when she was principal of the Police Training College.
By fielding Kiran Bedi at Delhi CM , BJP hopes to dash the hopes of AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal and his dream of returning as Delhi CM.