New Delhi: Former IPS officer Kiran Bedi joining the Bharatiya Janata Party and becoming its chief ministerial candidate has put the focus back on her career as a police officer. One of the incidents which Bedi's opponents project as a blot on her career is the caning of lawyers at Delhi's Tees Hazari court in 1988 which had led to a 90-day strike in all district courts in the city.
But now a section of lawyers, especially the younger ones, say the caning is 'forgive and forget' chapter for them. In 1988, as the then DCP of North Delhi, Kiran Bedi ordered a lathicharge on lawyers in Tees Hazari.
While many are against Bedi for inflicting 'sheer brutality' on lawyers, others see her as a capable chief minister given her career as a former IPS officer and a social activist.
"The incident happened many years ago and it does not matter today. Most of us did not even witness it. For us the local candidate and local issues matter the most," say two young lawyers, Kartikey Mathur and Swati Gupta.
Even those who witnessed the incident, too, want to move on and give her a chance. "The incident matter to only those who are politically active and witnessed the incident. For me, PM Narendra Modi's performance is a big factor. Arvind Kejriwal was very disappointing and is not worthy of a second chance," says Deepak Sharma, who too had joined the strike in 1988.
Backing Bedi is 75-year-old lawyer RK Bansal who said she should be given a chance. "She is an experienced administrator. We all make mistakes but we should forgive and move on. She will be a good chief minister," he adds.
But there is still a majority of lawyers for whom the wounds are still fresh and are unwilling to vote for Bedi.
"Kiran Bedi is a dictator and she doesn't know anything. She is not fit for Delhi," says Ajay Agarwal.
"Anger is still pent up inside lawyers against Kiran Bedi. Projecting her as the chief ministerial will do more harm than good for the BJP," says another lawyer RK Sharma.
The BJP chief ministerial candidate is making her political debut and will be contesting elections from Krishna Nagar constituency. The constituency has been a stronghold of the BJP as Union Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has been winning the seat since 1993.
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