Congress, AAP red faced as senior leaders praise Modi, Kiran Bedi

The Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were struggling to come to terms with seeming internal dissension on Thursday. The Congress leadership was upset with senior leader Janardan Dwivedi’s ostensible praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. AAP leaders resented the laudatory comments by party founder Shanti Bhushan for former colleague Kiran Bedi and criticism of party chief Arvind Kejriwal.

Dwivedi, in an interview to a news portal on Wednesday, said Modi’s victory was a triumph of Bharatiyata or Indianness. Dwivedi on Thursday claimed he was misquoted, while the BJP said the 69-year-old leader had been pressured to dismiss his comments and that all who believe in BJP’s ideology were welcome to join the party.

The Congress indicated it might take disciplinary action against Dwivedi. “What Dwivedi has said is totally opposite to the Congress’ idea of Indianness…The victory of Modi can by no stretch be the victory of Indianness,” Ajay Maken, the Congress general secretary, said. The controversy has embarrassed the party, as it comes in the midst of the election campaign for the Delhi Assembly polls, scheduled for February 7.

Bhushan’s praise of Bedi had left AAP red-faced. The former law minister said the BJP played a “masterstroke” by projecting Bedi as chief minister and she would give a tough fight to Kejriwal. He also said not everything was right in AAP. Bhushan and Bedi were key members of the Anna Hazare-led anti-corruption movement. While Bedi had parted ways with the team, Bhushan was one of the founders of AAP. The party put up a brave face, stating that the remarks were a sign of “inner democracy” in the party. Bhushan termed Bedi’s role in the anti-corruption movement “influential”. Bhushan also called for “re-orientation” of AAP. “I think everything is not right in the party and it is not being run on lines it was expected to run or what it was established for,” he said.

The BJP, meanwhile, clarified that there was no truth in the reports that former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly was joining the party. Industrialist Harsh Goenka, chairman of RPG Enterprises, had tweed on Wednesday that Ganguly might join BJP.

“I am not aware of what Harsh Goenka has tweeted. You please ask him. I have utmost respect for our PM,” Ganguly said in Kolkata. BJP’s Bengal in-charge Siddharth Nath Singh said there was “no truth” in the tweet of the industrialist. BJP MP and minister Babul Supriyo, however, fanned the speculation. He said Ganguly joining the party will be a big boost for BJP in Bengal. Ganguly was one of the people that the PM nominated as part of his ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’.