Bedi pours out heart to voters in open letter

Days after voters demolished her hopes to become the state’s chief minister, Kiran Bedi on Monday chided the public for not understanding that “there are no free lunches”.

Bedi took to her blog to write an “open letter” to the public in which she said apart from seeking implementable vision and plans, the people also wanted freebies. “They do not get it still, that there are no free lunches in life. If you rob Peter to pay Paul, it won'’t be long before all get robbed,” she wrote in a post on Monday.

She alleged that her opponents called her the foulest possible names during the Delhi Assembly elections. “Am relieved my parents were not alive to hear the foul words hurled at me,” she said.

Bedi’s blog post on Monday titled “An open letter to fellow Indians” had lifted much from her another post on Sunday under the headline “Relieved that my parents not alive to hear the foul words”.

Bedi drew public’s attention to her latest post by tweeting about it.

She contested elections because she did not want to die with the guilt that she only commented against the system without daring to pass the ultimate test of electoral politics. “I have failed the test. And take full responsibility for my decision,” she wrote.
Looking back at the election trail, she said there was a need to rework the way campaigning was done.

“Whole City or State comes to a grinding halt. Should it? Roads are in disarray, and work just stops,” she said.

“Everything is too loud, uncouth at times, insulting to thin skinned, false, insinuating, biased, revengeful, corrupt, wasteful, highly disruptive of common man’s needs, breaking all laws, and sending all wrong messages,” she observed. “It’s not a level playing field for the levelheaded serving people. It’s a field for might and muscle in all respects,” she added.

She suggested that all campaigning must become lawful, transparent, facts and evidence based and technology driven. She said different political candidates should be allocated space through neutral empires appointed by the Election Commission to hold debates “as per laid down rules”. Bedi recommended the widespread use of television for this purpose.

“Public ‘appeals’ through use of congregations must be not be allowed and considered a violation of laws. Hence must be banned,” she said.

The blog named ‘Crane Bedi’ was started in 2006 at the behest of her two daughters to “keep up with the times”.

“Yes, I have two, one is my godchild,” she clarifies on her blog about the two daughters.