 "Recently appointed Puducherry Governor Kiran Bedi")
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former India Against Corruption member Kiran Bedi has been appointed Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, a Rashtrapati Bhawan communique said on Sunday.
Bedi's name has resurfaced months after she entered the political wilderness following BJP's debacle in the 2015 Delhi Assembly polls.
Bedi, the BJP's chief ministerial candidate in the polls, was soundly defeated.
Her journey, from police officer to lieutenant governor, has been long and seen many associations.
Celebrated policewoman
The first woman officer in the Indian Police Service when she joined in 1972, Bedi held key positions including Inspector General (Prisons) at Delhi's high-security Tihar Jail. Her work in one of Asia's largest jails led to her being awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service.
But her image of being outspoken and radical made her stand out among her peers. Having lost the race for the post of Police Commissioner in Delhi, Bedi sought voluntary retirement from the service in 2007. She was then posted as Director General, Bureau of Police Research and Development.
India Against Corruption
Post her retirement, Bedi became more active in social issues and was a key member of the Anna Hazare-led Jan Lokpal agitation in August 2011.
Subsequent to the split between Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal, Bedi remained with the movement.
The parting of ways came after Hazare had said that he had nothing to do with the political plans of some members of the movement.
Even back then, Bedi had questioned the need for the anti-corruption movement turning political.
"What is the compulsion to float a party?" Bedi, who sided with Hazare on the issue of staying apolitical and continuing with the movement, had said.
Even as Kejriwal moved ahead with the the newly-formed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), a difference in opinion between Bedi and Hazare emerged.
Differing with Hazare on the amended Lokpal Bill approved by the Union Cabinet in early 2013, Bedi backed the legislation saying it addressed most of their concerns.
Bedi had also expressed happiness over the amended Bill paving the way for constitution of a collegium to select the chief of Central Bureau of Investigation.
Hazare, for his part, had called the amended Lokpal bill a "farce". He had also announced that he would launch another agitation if the government went ahead with the enactment of a "weak" legislation.
Bedi also gave Kejriwal's swearing-in ceremony as Delhi chief minister in 2013 a miss.
Moving towards the BJP
In 2013 itself, reports had emerged that the BJP was looking at Bedi as a potential candidate for the Lok Sabha polls.
According to reports, the BJP had been looking at offering the former top cop a party ticket to fight from Old Delhi’s Chandni Chowk constituency in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Sources in the BJP had said that Nitin Gadkari, in-charge of elections in Delhi, had been pushing for Bedi’s name.
Bedi had denied any such developments back then.
In a move that brought her closer to the BJP camp, Bedi had also endorsed then BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and said that Modi could provide a stable, accountable and inclusive government.
In January 2015, Bedi joined the BJP, ahead of Delhi Assembly elections scheduled for February seven.
Days later, she was named as the chief ministerial candidate of her party.
The Delhi debacle
The BJP suffered a huge defeat in the Delhi polls, bagging only three seats while the AAP won 67 of the total 70 assembly seats.
Bedi, who contested from the Krishna Nagar constituency, lost to AAP's S K Bagga by a narrow margin of 2,277 votes.
Subsequent to her defeat, Bedi said, “I am not inclined towards active politics but I am certainly inclined for active public service which I am back into. I am not an active politician because politics is not my language. I will not contest elections again.”
