Delhi elections 2015: Aam Aadmi Party may give tough fight in Krishna Nagar

NEW DELHI: BJP's chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi might not have it easy in her constituency. By all accounts, the Krishna Nagar constituency that was passed off as a cakewalk for any BJP candidate is likely to witness a tough fight between BJP and AAP.

On Wednesday, AAP challenged BJP from this very stronghold. A massive rally led by AAP's women members, supporters and volunteers marched through the constituency. It was accompanied by boisterous dancing, shouting of slogans and beating of drums.

Actor Gul Panag, who is an AAP member, rode a bike and the country's second woman IPS officer and first woman DGP, Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya, accompanied the party's Krishna Nagar candidate, SK Bagga, on a jeep. Bhattacharya was brought in to counter Bedi, whose claim to fame among other things is that she is the country's first IPS officer. Others AAP members who were part of the rally included former banker Meera Sanyal, Shefali Misra, Lubna Sarwath, Anjali Damania and Preeti Sharma Menon.

"BJP and especially Bedi have been promising women safety. However, all their proclamations are pointless since BJP members utter nonsense against women almost every day. Women's power is not to project a woman as your CM candidate. We are marching in unity and supporting a party which respects women," said Manju, a supporter.

Krishna Nagar, an RSS bastion won by BJP's Harsh Vardhan continuously since 1993, was regarded as a safe seat for BJP's CM aspirant. Bedi, who joined BJP on January 15, has been campaigning in the constituency every day. However, many say AAP looks stronger. "This is a BJP support area. But, there seems to be a lot of support for AAP," said Sanjeev Kumar, a shopowner in Lal Quarter.

Nitin Jain, another shopkeeper, said that while BJP was likely to pull it off, thanks to the massive groundwork being put in by the RSS and BJP cadre, AAP is giving a tough fight.