Kiran Bedi with Anna Hazare during his 2013 fast
Kiran Bedi today said she would meet Anna Hazare and explain her decision to join politics. The 77-year-old Gandhian has refused to take Ms Bedi's calls, apparently upset that she did not consult him before joining the BJP.
"I am not upset because Anna does not know why I have taken on this mantle," Kiran Bedi told NDTV in an exclusive interview, pointing at her saffron scarf with the BJP's lotus symbol.
"The moment Anna knows that this for me is supreme giving.., the ultimate giving. It was time to give myself ultimately for India first and Delhi," she said.
She added that she planned to meet Anna as soon as possible. "When I can go is a matter of time. First things first," she said, indicating that she wanted to finish with her campaign for the February 7 Delhi assembly polls before making that trip to Anna's hometown Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra.
Sources say Anna Hazare has not taken Kiran Bedi's calls since Thursday, when she joined the BJP, as he feels "hurt."
Ms Bedi has repeatedly called Mr Hazare repeatedly on the weekend, sources said.
"I called Anna-ji on the telephone; sometimes he was sleeping and sometimes he was taking rest. I tried calling Anna-ji yesterday and will again call him tomorrow," Ms Bedi admitted on Sunday.
On Friday, Mr Hazare had told reporters that Kiran Bedi had not contacted him before joining the BJP. Ms Bedi, he said, had not come to meet him in a year and had not been in touch with him.
Mr Hazare, whose India Against Corruption campaign won massive public support in 2011, has not hidden in his distaste for mainstream politics. Both he and Ms Bedi had opposed Arvind Kejriwal's move to launch the Aam Aadmi Party in 2012.
Speaking to NDTV on her new role, Kiran Bedi asserted that she was in politics for the long haul. "I have found a larger political platform," she said.