Delhi Elections 2015: Kiran Bedi as good a choice as Arvind Kejriwal, says Shanti Bhushan

NEW DELHI: Shanti Bhushan is all praise for Kiran Bedi’s anointment as the chief ministerial candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Delhi.

“It’s a masterstroke by the BJP to pitch her as a candidate because she has been a crusader against corruption just as Arvind (Kejriwal) has,” he told ET.

Bhushan is regarded as the patriarch of Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as well as being its biggest donor. And while he’s declared himself to be staunchly against the BJP, Bhushan’s views are reflective of the difficulty that voters energised by 2011’s India Against Corruption (IAC) movement may face—choosing between Kejriwal and Bedi, who emerged as leaders during that campaign. The first went on to form AAP, of which Shanti Bhushan and son Prashant Bhushan became an integral part. Bedi chose to stay away from politics until she took the plunge and joined the BJP last week.

Speaking to ET on Bedi’s recent induction into the BJP and her elevation as its chief ministerial candidate, Bhushan felt that the former policewoman is as good a choice as Kejriwal.

“She has excellent credentials and her integrity is well known. She was a police officer with the highest integrity, an IIT scholar from Delhi and she also won the Magsaysay award. She is in no way inferior to Arvind Kejriwal,” he said.

“Therefore, if she becomes the chief minister, she will provide a very honest government to Delhi. People should be happy even if she wins and forms the government,” said Bhushan, who was Union law minister in the Morarji Desai government (1977-79).

AAP spokesperson Ashutosh said the party didn’t share Bhushan's view.

“There is no comparison between Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi,” he said. “She should explain why she joined a party which she herself had described as the most corrupt party and even dissuaded people from voting for it. Arvind Kejriwal has not compromised as far as corruption is concerned. Kiran Bedi's decision to join the BJP is an opportunistic step and puts a question mark on her participation in the Anna movement."

Anna Hazare, whose fast against corruption captured the imagination of the nation and fuelled the IAC movement that spawned AAP, reportedly hasn’t been too happy about Bedi’s decision—he’s said to have avoided taking her calls.

But Bhushan said that the Delhi poll battle should be a proud moment for the anti-graft crusader of Ralegaon Siddhi.

“Anna should be very happy that one of his disciples is going to be the CM of Delhi--either Arvind Kejriwal or Kiran Bedi. This shows that the Anna movement has had a great effect on Indian politics,” he said.

Bhushan has worked closely with Bedi and Kejriwal, who were the two most prominent faces of IAC, apart from Hazare. When Kejriwal established AAP, Bhushan had sided with him. He’s donated Rs 2 crore in all to the party at times when it was strapped for funds.

Although Bhushan has endorsed both candidates, his praise for Bedi could hurt AAP at a time when fence-sitters are confused between the two, since they seem to have a lot in common.

Bhushan said his endorsement of Bedi didn’t extend to her party.

“I am against the BJP because of their communal agenda. But I know Kiran very well and she is a secular and an honest person and does not have a communal agenda. I don’t think she will let BJP’s communal politics work in Delhi,” he said. “She is a woman and her first priority on the list is women’s safety. Having been a police officer, she can provide women’s safety in a big way. Therefore, I don’t think there is anything lacking in her except that she is in BJP.