With the entry of Kiran Bedi, the chances are the BJP's leadership deficit has been addressed. Even though Bedi has not yet been named a chief ministerial candidate, it is obvious she fits the bill.

A week is a long time in politics, they say. With exactly three weeks to go for the Delhi assembly polls on 7 February, the BJP's central leadership pulled out a surprise ace. It is now a Kiran Bedi versus Arvind Kejriwal election. Both are former acolytes of anti-corruption fighter Anna Hazare.

To be sure, Bedi has not been declared as the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate yet, but the kind of reception she got at the party’s central headquarters at 11 Ashoka Road, and the way she spoke, left no one in any doubt that she will be the face of the party in the coming assembly elections. If the party wins, she is sure to be Chief Minister.

Should that happen, Bedi would be scripting a new chapter in the history of the BJP, as also in Indian polity, where she will be leading a cadre-based party into elections and becoming chief minister after making a lateral, last-minute entry. Bedi, who had the distinction of being the first woman IPS officer in the country, and whose claims were ignored for the Delhi Police Commissioner’s post, officially joined the BJP today (15 January) and instantly filled the leadership void in the Delhi unit. “I am in mission mode”, Bedi said at the press conference where she was flanked by party president Amit Shah, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the central party-in-charge of the Delhi unit Prabhat Jha, local party unit chief Satish Upadhayay, Vijay Goel and other senior leaders.

The leadership void was a sore point for the BJP, especially given the Aam Aadmi Party’s well-known face of Arvind Kejriwal. In fact, AAP repeatedly taunted the BJP over the lack of a chief ministerial candidate and for using Narendra Modi as a prop. In fact, to underscore the point, AAP unilaterally decided to call it a Kejriwal versus Jagdish Mukhi fight – a clearly unequal fight. Mukhi was leader of the opposition when Sheila Dikshit was CM. But the BJP has now redrawn the chess broad and looks to be suddenly one up in the game of political brinkmanship. The move has taken AAP, as also the mid-level leadership, by surprise.

Kejriwal will surely have to think of other ways to counter his one-time fellow traveller in the Anna movement – not an easy task. In fact, over the last two days, Kejriwal and the entire AAP leadership had been busy targeting Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhayay over his alleged business links to a power company. The BJP, in one go, has dumped the issue in the waste-basket.

A few days ago, when Firstpost had asked BJP President Amit Shah whether the party was going to name a Chief Ministerial candidate for Delhi, he said “we have not decided as yet whether to name a chief ministerial candidate for Delhi but that does not mean we don’t have a chief ministerial candidate.” That was a significant statement, and a departure from the position the BJP had taken in four assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir, where the party rode to victory (or better performance) by riding the Modi bandwagon.

At today’s press conference, Shah chose to say that it was within the purview of the party’s parliamentary board to take a decision on who would be chief minister if the party won.

All pre-poll surveys have indicated that BJP was ahead of AAP barring on one parameter: the CM candidate. Harsh Vardhan was a distant second to Kejriwal on this score. That the induction of Kiran Bedi was not a last-minute thought is apparent from the fact that the BJP deliberately delayed the announcement of its list of candidates. It can now present a new slate of cleaner candidates. With 21 January being the last date for the filing of nominations, the party’s screening committee will now get down to finalising tickets for each seat. Two other women leaders, Shazia Ilmi and Jaya Prada, are also expected to join the BJP. The speculation is that Jaya Prada will be pitted against Kejriwal. Though she is unlikely to upset his applecart, she will add to the colour of the campaign and keep the TV crews busy.

On her part, Kiran Bedi made it known that she was handpicked by Modi and Amit Shah to join the BJP and fight these elections. She said before she came to the party headquarters, she had met Modi and it was his “inspirational leadership” that convinced her to join the BJP to serve Delhi.

Bedi, in fact, directly pitted herself against Kejriwal, albeit without naming him. She listed out her credentials as a leader and also as a team person to boost her own candidature - possibly to contrast it with Kejriwal's record. The BJP’s radio advertisements, which use an old lady to call Kejriwal a “bhagoda” who betrayed the popular trust when he resigned as CM after 49 days, has pinched AAP hard. AAP had to counter it with an ad that offered an apology and promising to not quit if elected this time.

“I have 40 years of administrative experience serving as a police officer in Delhi, Mizoram, Goa, Tihar jail…..I am now dedicating all my experience, time and energy to the people of Delhi. The city has to be made the Number One Capital of the world. It needs a strong, honest, experienced, clear-headed, visionary, courageous and stable leadership”, Kiran Bedi said. Quite obviously, administrative experience is what Kejriwal lacks.

She made it more than clear that she perfectly fitted the bill. She stressed her ability to lead teams. Mujhe kam karma bhi aata hai aur kaam karwana bhi aata hai (I know how to work and how to get work done by a team). During my long career I have worked with constables and with common people to achieve goals.” This too counters Kejriwal’s claims to be the only one with the common touch.

Rumours about Bedi joining the BJP have been afloat for long. Sources said she was offered a ticket in the last assembly and parliamentary elections but at that time she was not inclined to join active politics. She perhaps was unsure of BJP prospects and thus didn’t want to take a risk. Things have, however, changed since the time parliamentary elections results were declared.

But, throughout, she has been sending out favourable tweets on Modi, indicating that she had high regard for the BJP’s prime minister. Modi has now given her a chance to grow politically in what will be a tough fight against AAP.

But the lady is a tough cookie. Kejriwal has a fight on his hands.