Kejriwal challenges Bedi to public debate

New Delhi: A day after Kiran Bedi was named the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP’s) chief ministerial candidate in Delhi, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday challenged her to a public debate. Bedi responded by saying that she will debate with him “on the floor of the House”.

The AAP leader said, “It will be a good initiative for democracy if there is a debate between us on different issues. People vote in the name of religion and caste...they are not aware of issues. The debate, around 1-2 hours long should be on concrete issues.”

Responding to Kejriwal’s challenge, Bedi said the AAP chief believes “only in debates” while her focus is on delivery of services. “Arvind believes only in debates whereas I believe in delivery of services. I will debate with him on the floor of the House,” the former IPS officer said.

Kejriwal, known for his active social media presence, also requested Bedi to “unblock” him in on microblogging site Twitter. He tweeted, “@thekiranbedi Kiranji, i used to follow u on twitter. Now, u have blocked me on twitter. Kindly unblock me.” Terming Kejriwal’s twitter account as a “polluting” one, Bedi hit back at Kejriwal, saying that she blocked him more than a year ago as he was “spreading negativity”.

“I blocked him 15 months back when he called himself an anarchist. He was spreading negativity. Didn’t want my four million followers to see negativity... it was a polluting account,” said Bedi.