New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) BJP's chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi Tuesday apologised to her party for letting it down after she lost from a constituency seen as a 'safe seat' by the party, but demonstrated her ignorance about the city by admitting how she discovered during the campaign the yawning gap between the haves and have-nots.
Bedi, who served Delhi as an Indian Police Service officer at various levels and took voluntary retirement while she was director of the Bureau of Police Research and Development, also admitted she got to know Delhi only after she started her campaign.
She said her constituency Krishna Nagar, which has had former BJP chief ministerial candidate and now union minister Harsh Vardhan as its legislator since the first Delhi election in 1993, was dirty and needed at least a month just for cleaning.
She admitted her lack of knowledge about Delhi, and said the campaigning gave her a chance to know the city.
"I am very happy I got to do this, because this showed me the real situation of Delhi. I was troubled with what I saw... the divide between urban rich and urban poor... There is a mammoth gap," she said.
In a strange admission, she also said she was not charged "even a rupee" for fighting the election, adding that it was "rare" that this happened.
"They (BJP) did not take even a rupee for making me the chief ministerial candidate... this is rare that a party gives you candidature and does not take even a rupee," Bedi said, while thanking the BJP for giving her the opportunity.
Bedi's entry as the chief ministerial candidate days before the election had left many unhappy in the party.
She, however, thanked party workers and leaders for their "affection" and apologised for letting them down, and said she will continue to be a part of the BJP.
Taking the entire responsibility for the defeat, Bedi said: "PM (Narendra Modi) was not the CM candidate, I was. I take full responsibility."
"I want to thank the BJP leadership which reposed trust in me. I apologise to every worker of the party, I could not fulfill their expectation," she said.
Minutes later, the former police officer in response to a question retorted: "I have not lost... let the BJP assess (why they lost), they are a national cadre-based party. I have not lost, I gave my very best."
Bedi lost the Krishna Nagar constituency to a little known lawyer, S.K. Bagga, by 2,277 votes.
India is going to step into a new generation of mobile networks in 2022. Starting from 13 metro c
The reason for the security lapse during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Punjab was the P
WHO chief warned about Omicron, know what was the biggest shortcoming last year
The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Aghnom Ghebreyesus, says that the cases of the
Team India opener Ishan Kishan batted brilliantly in the three-match ODI series against the West
8th story from New Delhi. (Bhanwar Jangid). Within two months of the lockdown, Delhi's heartbeats
Every cricket lover will probably remember the disappointed faces of Lance Klusener at Edgbaston
Russian oil company Rosneft has postponed a new agreement to sell oil to two Indian state-owned o
Garba thrashing: Non-Hindus entered Ahmedabad's pandal, VHP investigated and caught and thrashed
After the warning of Hindu organizations not to allow non-Hindus to enter Garba pandals during th
BJP, AAP claim victory as Delhi votes
New Delhi, Feb 7 (IANS) Hundreds of thousands voted enthusiastically across the Indian capital
Salman Khan's reality show 'Bigg Boss 18' is once again ready to entertain the audience. The show
