New Delhi: Congress candidate Sharmistha Mukherjee, who is making her political debut by contesting Delhi Assembly elections from Greater Kailash constituency, says she was shocked when the Bharatiya Janata Party named former IPS officer Kiran Bedi as its chief ministerial candidate.
"I was shocked when Kiran Bedi was announced as the BJP chief ministerial candidate. It showed the dearth of leaders in the party and the weak leadership. Kiran Bedi who used to target Narendra Modi was appointed as the party CM candidate in just a few days after joining the party," she says.
Sharmistha, the daughter of President Pranab Mukherjee, adds, "Suraksha, Sugam & Sanskriti (security, accessibility and culture is my plan for the constituency."
Rubbishing her BJP rival Rakesh Kumar Gullaiya's allegationd that she is a celebrity candidate, Sharmistha says, "The constituency does not need a celebrity candidate but a good candidate. He was a councilor for Chirag Delhi but he did nothing for the area. 'Jo apne gaon ko nai sambhal sake, who puri constituency ko kaise sambhalenge' (He could not look after a small, how will he take responsibility of the entire constituency."
But her path as not easy as she faces Aam Aadmi Party's sitting MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj and Gulliya, who like her is contesting Assembly elections for the first time.
When asked about AAP candidate Saurabh Bhardwaj, she says, "People ask me how I will counter Narendra Modi wave. No one talks about Saurabh Bhardwaj. Greater Kailash will witness a fight between Congress and BJP. There is no AAP here."
With just a week left for the polls, Sharmistha is focusing on door-to-door campaigns, interactive sessions, nukkad sabhas, pad yatras.
In 2013 elections, Congress came third in the Greater Kailash seat with just 19,641 votes as against AAP's 43,097 votes and BJP's 30,005 votes. But Sharmistha is hopeful that she can turn the tables on her rivals when voters exercise their franchise on February 7.
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