ormer Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Kiran Bedi is likely to be offered a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket for contesting the Lok Sabha elections next year. A BJP leader said that Bedi is in touch with party leaders on this. "The party is exploring options of fielding her from Delhi's Chandni Chowk constituency. However, it will take some time for her to join the party. It will not happen at least till the Assembly elections are over," the source said.

"Many senior leaders, including Nitin Gadkari, wanted her to join the BJP before the Assembly elections so that she could be projected as Delhi's chief ministerial candidate. However, national president Rajnath Singh and state BJP president Vijay Goel vehemently opposed the idea. This destroyed her chances," he added.

However, the source said, the party leaders have now realised that she can be a "valuable candidate" for the general elections. Union minister Kapil Sibal won the Chandni Chowk constituency in the 2009 general lections defeating BJP's Vijender Gupta. BJP's Vijay Goel had won the seat twice before Sibal.

"Bedi has a clean image. She has been a successful woman police officer. She has been a crusader against corruption. All this fits into our parameters of what a good candidate should be," he said.

Bedi was a senior member of Team Anna, which had spearheaded the campaign for the Jan Lok Pal Bill in 2011. However, she stayed away from Arvind Kejriwal, another Team Anna member, who went on to form the Aam Admi Party.

Asked to comment on the matter, BJP spokesperson Captain Abhimanyu said he did not have any information about any plans to induct Kiran Bedi. "I am not aware of any such developments," he told The Sunday Guardian. Bedi herself did not answer an emailed questionnaire sent to her.

Bedi has indicated her proximity to the BJP many a time in the recent past. She took part in an event organised by the BJP's intellectual cell. On earlier occasions as well, she attended programmes organised by different party cells. Earlier this month, she tweeted that "NaMo as PM candidate is under grave terror threat as fully exposed by Patna rally. He must get full SPG cover! Govt needs to amend SPG Act".