New Delhi: Kiran Bedi, the BJP's chief ministerial candidate, broke down while campaigning today in a part of Delhi from where she is contesting her first ever election.
"This is the love of the people and I don't have words for the kind of love I am getting," Ms Bedi said, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief.
Ms Bedi was apparently moved when people brought her flasks filled with tea during her roadshow at Krishna Nagar, the constituency in east Delhi from where she is contesting the assembly polls on Saturday.
"I am going to return the love. The government will be giving back the love. We will serve them with honesty. I will try my best to be deserving of this love," she said, pausing to drink water and collect herself before continuing with the final lap of campaigning for the polls.
Ms Bedi always starts her day at Krishna Nagar before campaigning for other BJP candidates in the city.
Many who met her today said they were surprised to see another side of the 65-year-old former Indian Police Service officer.
Krishna Nagar is seen as a BJP stronghold, but the party's main rival in these polls, Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, seems determined to prove that even safe seats can't be taken for granted.
AAP has taken the fight to Ms Bedi's corner today by organizing, not far from where she was campaigning, an "Aam Aurat" or mega women's rally.
The AAP's challenge and the objections within her own party to her being "para-dropped" as the BJP's face just before the election have combined to make it a difficult debut for Ms Bedi, say sources close to her.
Last week, amid reports that the BJP was worried about the less than enthusiastic response of voters, Ms Bedi had stopped addressing rallies and meetings saying she had a sore throat.