Kiran Bedi to be Delhi CM candidate, tweets Nitin Gadkari

NEW DELHI: A tweet by former BJP chief and party in-charge of Delhi Nitin Gadkari saying "Dilli chunav ke liye BJP taiyyar, Kejriwal ke mukable Kiran Bedi hongi CM candidate (BJP ready for Delhi polls, Kiran Bedi will be CM candidate against Kejriwal)" caused a flutter in party circles on Tuesday, with leaders and spokespersons distancing themselves from the comment.

With Lok Sabha elections in full swing, and the Delhi assembly polls not too far away, Gadkari's tweet that Bedi would be the party's chief ministerial candidate could cause major trouble for the already faction-ridden state unit in Delhi.

While Gadkari could not be contacted, some in BJP said his Twitter account had been hacked and there was some mischief behind the post.

The Delhi BJP unit has not been able to overcome its factional fights between groups owing allegiance to Harsh Vardhan and Vijay Goel. This even led to the party naming its Delhi Lok Sabha contestants at the last moment.

Bedi, who is known to be close to BJP leaders, has not joined the party and proposing her name implies bringing an outsider for the post of Delhi CM. That could only lead to fresh infighting in the state unit.