BJP leaders at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally here Sunday were caught by surprise when the party’s chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi threatened to stop her speech midway as she was getting disturbed by the crowd chanting Modi’s name.

The thousands of people gathered at the DDA ground in Dwarka’s Sector 14 were waiting eagerly for Mr. Modi, and were raising slogans praising him and the BJP at regular intervals.

Bharatiya Janata Party candidates from many west Delhi assembly constituencies addressed the people one by one.

As Ms. Bedi was midway into her speech, news of the prime minister reaching the ground sent the crowds into a tizzy who started chanting his name.

At this point, Ms. Bedi took a long pause and waited for the crowd to settle down. However, when that did not happen, she resumed her speech but stopped again after a few seconds, visibly distracted and disturbed by the loud cheering.

She turned to the party leaders seated behind her on the dais and said, “I cannot speak like this”, startling many of them.

Immediately, union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy rushed to her side while frantically signalling with his hand, asking her to carry on.

But a reluctant Ms. Bedi repeated that she “cannot speak like this”, forcing Rudy to whisper something in her ear.

Seconds later, Ms. Bedi regained her composure and finished her speech as the party leaders breathed a sigh of relief.