New Delhi, Jan 18 (Indian Express) : Seven months ago, Kumar Vishwas fought a pitched electoral battle against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi in the Lok Sabha elections. The results, even he admits, did not flatter him. Between now and then, Vishwas was criticised by some in the AAP for “pro Modi” comments. But on Thursday, the day one of his former associates Kiran Bedi joined the BJP, Vishwas said even “right leaning people” should support the AAP, for Arvind Kejriwal was the only man who could provide a “check and balance” to the Modi-led BJP.
Speaking to Newsline at his residence in Ghaziabad, Vishwas said the BJP centres its entire campaign around one man and this was detrimental to politics. “In the seventies, people said India was Indira and Indira was India. It is the same now and that cannot be allowed. There has to be a check and balance, and the only one which can do it is the Aam Aadmi Party,” he said.
Criticising Modi for his comments at Ramlila Maidan recently, Vishwas said, “In every democracy, there has to be room for dissent. You cannot tell those who oppose your ideas to go live in a forest and call him an anarchist. Modi should have given people an agenda for Delhi and told people to appoint a Lokpal instead of firing Rajyapals. He says nothing about Sakshi Maharaj who is a representative of India. The BJP is obsessed with one face. ”
On Bedi and former AAP leader joining the BJP, Vishwas said this was a sign of “BJP’s desperation ”.
“In a way, the BJP is admitting that there is nobody in Delhi that can challenge the clean and honest image of Kejriwal. They approached Bedi , Shazia and even me. It only shows their desperation.”
Vishwas said he would not “criticise everything about the government”. “Modi is the country’s PM. Opposition does not mean constant protests. There are some bad things about the government that I have spoken out against, but when I see something good about Modi — like his actions in Japan — I spoke about them. Some in the AAP asked me why I said them, but many others said I did the right thing. That is the beauty of AAP. There is Prashant Bhushan who is 180 degrees left, and I am 180 degrees right. But we respect each other and our work,” he said.
BJP has got the world's most beautiful face in Narendra Modi, says Kiran Bedi
New Delhi, Jan 18 (PTI): Days after joining BJP, Kiran Bedi today said that in Prime Minister Narendra Modi the party has with it the "world's most beautiful face" as she rebutted AAP's claim that she was brought in by the saffron outfit because it does not have a face of its own in Delhi.
"BJP has got the world's most beautiful face with it, i.e. Narendra Modi and his leadership. After that we are just stars who are revolving around him," the former Team Anna member said as she shot down AAP's charge that she was inducted into BJP for being its face here for Delhi polls.
"Delhi will get all its resources from the central government and it is the Centre which will give us energy," Bedi told reporters here.
AAP has attacked BJP over the induction of former IPS officer Bedi, saying that it has been done to shield Prime Minister Modi in the event of the party's defeat in the upcoming Assembly elections.
Bedi, who will contest the February 7 polls, had yesterday rejected Congress's charge that she had used Anna Hazare to fulfil her political ambitions, saying that joining the anti- corruption crusader was the "right thing to do" during the Lokpal agitation.
Congress leader Ajay Maken has alleged that Bedi and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal were "opportunists of the first order". Maken, who is the Congress's campaign chief for Delhi polls, had alleged that both Kejriwal and Bedi had furthered their political ambitions behind Hazare's back.
Bedi, 65, entered the BJP fold in the presence of its chief Amit Shah and Union ministers Arun Jaitley and Harsh Vardhan at the party's headquarters here on January 15.
Kejriwal and Bedi were part of Hazare's core team as he led a massive agitation to press for the passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament. The two had parted ways in 2012 after Kejriwal's decision to float the Aam Aadmi Party.