Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas on Monday alleged that by projecting Kiran Bedi as its chief ministerial candidate, the Bharatiya Janata Party was rewarding her for ensuring the failure of Jan Lokpal movement.
Ms. Bedi along with Mr. Vishwas and several other AAP leaders had pioneered the cause of a strong Lokpal under the aegis of India Against Corruption before they parted ways in 2012.
“BJP conspired with two members of our core (Anna Hazare’s) team to ensure that the movement died a premature death. One of them is a Union Minister now while the other will be projected as the CM candidate,” said Mr. Vishwas launching a veiled attack on General (retd.) V.K. Singh and Ms. Bedi respectively.
Joining his party’s Assembly poll campaign for the first time at party leader Manish Sisodia’s constituency Patparganj, Mr. Vishwas also questioned the credentials and commitment of friend-turned-foe Ms. Bedi. Commenting on her “passive role” during the post December 16 gang-rape protests, he said while he and his party colleagues were subjected to lathicharge, Ms. Bedi was tweeting from the confines of her home.
Mr. Vishwas, who is considered a crowd puller among the AAP volunteers, lived up to his reputation with a capacity crowd filling up the Badrinath Temple Park where the jan sabha was held.
