Delhi BJP chief’s letter admits to differences in the party over choosing Bedi as the CM face. (Source: Express photo) Delhi BJP chief’s letter admits to differences in the party over choosing Bedi as the CM face. (Source: Express photo)

In an attempt to instill vigour in the party cadre and glue them together, Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay came out with a letter requesting party workers to forget the differences and work in the interest of the nation.

Upadhyay told the cadre to pull themselves up for Modi’s sake and also accept CM candidate Kiran Bedi “in the interest of the country and Delhi”.

“Thodi si bhi shithilta rahi to hame zindagi bhar pachtana padega aur aisa avsar punah prapt nahi hoga. Rashtra nirmaan ke is mahaabhiyaan ko, is pavitra mahayagya ko safal banane ke liye, Dilli ko Modiji ke saath khada karne ke liye sahyogi bane.

National leadership has given us clean image person like Kiran Bedi, jise humne desh hit mein, Dilli ke hit mein aur dal ke hit mein pure vishwas ke saath svikaar kiya hai (If we remain dormant this time, we will regret it for life and will not get such an opportunity again. We need to work for Modi. National leadership has given us a leader like Bedi who has a clean image. We should accept her in the interest of the country, Delhi and the party),” the letter said.

Though the BJP leadership had till now denied any differences within the party over choosing Bedi as CM candidate, the letter is an indication that all is not well within the Delhi unit.

It is, in fact, an acknowledgement that there are differences among the cadre on the induction and naming of Bedi as the CM candidate.

The letter stated, “We cannot sit still till February 7 and we need to leave all our complaints behind in the interest of the country and our leader. I hope you all understand my request.”

Reports of the Delhi unit not performing well and the AAP emerging stronger have the national leadership worried. Winning this crucial election has now become an issue of ‘pride’ for the BJP.

Meanwhile, Bedi on ‘silent’ campaign

Sarah Hafeez

BJP’s CM candidate Kiran Bedi, who has been suffering from a sore throat, continued her campaign on a muted note on Friday. In Jangpura, she waved at supporters and barely managed to ask them for votes. The campaign, therefore, was silent on party plans for the constituency or the city in the event of a win.

Accompanied by former AAP MLA and now BJP candidate Maninder Singh Dhir, Bedi set out on a mini tempo truck from DAV College. It weaved through the inner residential blocks of Nehru Nagar and ended at Ashram Chowk in Southeast Delhi.

Vivek Roy, a student of DAV College, said, “We support Bediji. We started this rally outside our college premises. I bunked classes to be here.” When the caravan passed through Block 10, a 70-year-old resident, Lilavati Mahajan, approached the tempo along with her daughters-in-law. They held garlands for Bedi. As Lilavati garlanded her, the former IPS officer said, “Give me your blessings that I might win. I will come back here after winning.”

Jangpura candidate M S Dhir too remained largely silent, choosing to just look on from the tempo.

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