Bedi’s Record Beyond Reproach

Her detractors are only looking indecent slinging mud at the illustrious lady who is now the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate 

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a successful woman in possession of a good career, prestige and goodwill must be brought down in the most uncharitable manner — to borrow from Jane Austen’s great opening line of her classic novel, Pride and Prejudice. Kiran Bedi’s life can be summed up in that one line. A hero of our times, Bedi has shattered many glass ceilings and dared to be a woman in a man’s world. She has seen unprecedented success and admiration. She has also seen something that happens to few, rare individuals in history. She has witnessed her name become a metaphor. Invoking Bedi’s name for a generation of Indians means invoking courage and bravery.

Success has many enemies and successful women have greater enemies. Bedi is no stranger to spotlight, nor is controversy alien to her. Defying conventions and taking the path less travelled often invites criticism and ridicule. This has become even more evident since the day Bedi decided to take a plunge in electoral politics.

Bedi was part of the India against Corruption movement that was successful in raising the awareness against corruption and mega scams of Congress-led UPA government. Arvind Kejriwal, Bedi and Prashant Bhushan at that time formed what was known as Team Anna. Kejriwal and Bhushan moved on to form the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and decided to contest elections. Bedi however stayed away from electoral politics and did not join the AAP despite being an integral part of Team Anna.

Bedi endorsed Narendra Modi during 2014 general elections and has now joined BJP. So as far as her electoral choices are concerned, she has been consistent. The charge of opportunism against her levelled by Kejriwal, considering she has never supported or endorsed the AAP — neither when it was formed nor when Kejriwal enjoyed his moment under the sun after winning 28 seats in last Delhi elections — therefore, does not wash. Kejriwal is known to shoot and scoot so it does not surprise that he calls Bedi an opportunist for exercising her freedom to choose a political party of her choice.

Bedi is an out-of-the-box choice for chief ministerial candidate by the BJP. This being a cadre based party has usually favoured someone who has risen through the ranks and has worked his or her way up. Current president of the BJP, Amit Shah, is known to be a master strategist and man of remarkable precision. He had the courage to go with Manohar Lal Khattar in Haryana when everyone was saying that Haryana can only have a Jat Chief Minister. In Maharashtra again, the conventional wisdom, which is usually derived from op-ed columns of out-of-touch editors and commentators, said a Brahmin candidate would not be such a great choice; the BJP still went with Devendra Fadnavis.

This lends credence to the claim that BJP 2.0 under Shah’s leadership puts the country above the party and party above the individual. There is no template that is followed. If the best talent comes from within the ranks of the party, it will be nurtured and promoted. If the talent and required expertise is outside the party, it will be brought within the party fold. This explains bringing in Bedi and projecting her as chief ministerial candidate for Delhi elections.

Delhi has unique challenges, which are much different from other states. It is a state that also hosts the Union government. This makes the job of Delhi Chief Minister slightly different and challenging because he/she may not enjoy the independence of other chief ministers since the jurisdiction of the Central government and state government is often overlapped or not always clearly defined. Sheila Dixit, former Chief Minister of Delhi, famously protested her own government and was often heard complaining that she did not have the power she needed, and that she was helpless. Forty-nine day wonder Kejriwal protested more than he governed, complained more than he ruled. Delhi has suffered in the process.

Bedi comes with a plethora of policing and administrative experience. What is hugely attractive about her is that she believes in solutions. This is amply reflected in her career graph. As Inspector General – Prisons, she brought in a good dose of jail reforms. Even her worst critics agree that her transformation of Tihar Jail and improving prison governance is unparalleled in the world. This effort won her the prestigious Ramon Magasaysay award in 1994. Her ideas have been successfully implemented in many prisons around the world. This is an interesting example of how Bedi operates. No one before her had thought of prison reforms at that level and successfully implemented them. There are many such examples in her distinguished career where Bedi has looked for solutions instead of relying on conventional wisdom or did her job merely to earn a salary. Going beyond what is expected has been the hallmark of Bedi’s life and career. Delhi would immensely benefit under an administrator like her.

The Election

Kejriwal versus Kiran is no contest at all. The former had had an opportunity to work for Delhi. He couldn’t last beyond 49 days. He brought Delhi to the brink of anarchy and then quit abruptly. After quitting as chief minister, he did not stay to work for Delhi residents or nurture his constituency. Instead he was busy playing ego battles with Narendra Modi. He spent time creating a ruckus on the streets of Gujarat challenging the then chief minister of that state (now the Prime Minister) for no reason or rhyme. All he ever achieved was primetime coverage. He then went to Varanasi and took on a huge ego battle against Modi there.

Modi was busy winning elections and Kejriwal was busy getting prime time coverage. The latter had completely forgotten Delhi till the election season came by again. Between a tried and trusted administrator and an anarchist interested only in creating more problems than there already exist, there is no question about who will turn around Delhi for better. It is interesting that this time around Kejriwal is not talking much about Jan Lokpal . Last time he stepped down over this issue and one remembers him saying in a television interview that the Chief Minister’s Office was of no significance to him. He only wanted to bring in ‘Jan Lokpal’ (the equivalent authority of the state would be a lokayukta, not a lokpal). This time that does not seem to be on his list of priorities at all.

Bedi has been personally attacked; her marital life has been brought into public glare. She has been harassed and ridiculed. Interestingly, however, no one is challenging the blueprint she proposes for Delhi. Her detractors seem to be only interested in character assassination and cheap insinuations. Bedi is such an iconic figure that many urban legends about her have become part of narrative for many years. To her credit, in her autobiography, Bedi has talked about her life in detail, the choices she made and why she made them. But those who are interested in maligning her have no interest in facts or digging out information about her. It is much easier to rely on hearsay and unsubstantiated rumours.

Bedi is now in active politics. The media spotlight on her will only intensify. Personal attacks will become more personal and vicious. Such is the nature of this beast. Knowing her, however, she will find a way to silence her critics yet again. Her grit and courage is legendary. Margaret Thatcher said once, “If my critics saw me walking over the Thames, they would say it was because I couldn’t swim.” Thatcher’s critics and Bedi’s surely have a lot in common.