Amid political diatribes and fast changing developments in the run up to the 2017 Punjab polls, Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal’s statement — “I will arrest (Bikram Singh) Majithia after six months” — has sent a veiled message that he could even consider taking over as the Chief Minister of Punjab, should his party win the next elections.
Of late, Kejriwal has been on the receiving end in Delhi, with a dozen of his MLAs getting arrested by police and the CBI sending behind bars many of his trusted lieutenants and senior officers, including the Principal Secretary to the CM, Rajendra Kumar, while 21 AAP MLAs are facing possible disqualification for allegedly holding office of profits. In a scenario like this when the Delhi CM has been cut off at the knees due to these and other events, his statement made last Friday is fraught with a menacing message that portends he might prefer Punjab over Delhi if his party comes to power in this state.
Soon after he was granted bail on Friday by an Amritsar court in a defamation case filed by Majithia for leveled allegations suggesting the latter’s involvement in the drug trade, Kejriwal launched a fresh offensive against Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal’s brother-in-law. “I want to say to Majithia that Majithia Sahib, we are not going to get scared by these FIRs. Only six months are left in Akali’s regime. If Majithia has the courage, he should get me arrested in six months. Otherwise after six months, I will arrest Majithia,” he warned.
Analysts, however, say that the decision to arrest or not to arrest anyone is the prerogative of the police or judiciary and not a political party or its convener. Thus, statements like these are only bound to inflame the already volatile political atmosphere and pave the road for the politics of vendetta. The people of Punjab have already witnessed a similar situation during and after the 2002 Assembly polls when then state Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh launched an offensive against the Badals, declaring that he would send them to jail soon after his government was formed. He did so.
The assumption that Kejriwal could consider taking over the reins in Punjab, has further gained ground after the outright rejection of media reports that the beleaguered former BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu could be the AAP’s Chief Ministerial candidate in Punjab. This development suggests that AAP’s convener may have some other plans up his sleeves that he would like to make public once the Assembly results are out. Another clue that this may indeed be in the works is the fact that the party leadership has so far remained non-committal over declaring its Chief Ministerial candidate.
Today, AAP is a one-man show. Kejriwal’s style has ensured that he is the undisputed leader of AAP after he successfully “booted out” dissident leaders like Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan within months of Delhi voters handing him a spectacular victory. Since then, he has only consolidated his position and no one has the guts to question his authority and decision making within the party.
The ruthlessness of his moves to silence those who did not agree with his views must be in the back of Sidhu’s mind and he may not find it easy to climb up the ladder in Kejriwal’s AAP and retain his political prowess, should he join AAP.
For Kejriwal, the politics in Delhi has not been as simple as the party had initially anticipated after its landslide victory in the last Assembly polls. Whatever may be the motive, the Modi government has effectively clipped his wings and is thinning out his herd. To date, the Delhi Chief Minister has been reduced to slinging mud and repeatedly attacks Modi, accusing his government of ‘political vendetta’ to avenge defeat. Earlier, he had called the Prime Minister a “psychopath, coward and a liar.” Now, he feels that Modi wants to get him killed.
Kejriwal is unquestionably angry. So are the voters in Punjab!
Sensing an opportunity to play on the public sentiments, he has now trained his guns on the Badals and Majithia. The AAP convener, it seems, is out to convert people’s anger into votes. How things pan out, only time will tell.
Courtesy Daily World Link :
http://epaper.dailyworld.in/Details.aspx?id=51373&boxid=80799&uid=&dat=2016-08-01
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Manish Tiwari, Editor-in-chief, Daily World
manish@dailyworld.in
Phone No. : 8591859120
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