Mr. Modi takes no prisoners. He is not magnanimous in victory or humble in defeat, He is a bad loser and has yet to get over the whupping that Kejriwal gave him in Delhi last year: unlike seasoned politicians who take a defeat or two in their stride, Mr. Modi has decided to stake his all in swatting this impudent bacillus in his backyard, even if its the last thing he ever does: the irony is – it WILL be the last thing he does, or to be more correct, the last thing he ATTEMPTS to do.
Forget, dear reader, the merits or otherwise of Kejriwal’s government: there will be a time to discuss that elsewhere: there have been far worse state (and central) governments in our sorry history. The whole point of democracy is that properly elected governments have a right to exist: this, quite clearly, is one lesson of democracy (there are others too) that Mr. Modi has forgotten to imbibe, which is why he keeps flunking the test whenever the Supreme Court asks the questions. He failed the test first in Uttarakhand, and again in Arunachal Pradesh: he can’t afford to flunk it again (its bit like a doping test for international sports- three fails and you’re out on your backside).
And so Mr. Modi has devised a new SOP for Mr. Kejriwal and Delhi, against whom he has deployed more heavy artillery than he has along the LOC with Pakistan: the Home Ministry, the Lieutenant Governor, CBI, Anti Corruption Branch, Income Tax Deptt, Election Commission, the three Municipal Corporations. As I write this, of the 67 MLAs of AAP in Delhi, FIRs have been filed against 12 (of whom 11 have been arrested), the 13th ( Rajesh Rishi of Janakpuri) will probably have been arrested by the time you read this, the 14th ( Kartar Singh of Chhatarpur) has just been subjected to an Income Tax raid at his office and residence, and a 15th (of Narela) has been named in an abetment to suicide FIR even though the suicide note nowhere names him, and a 16th (AAP leader, not MLA), Swati Maliwal, Chairperson of the Delhi Women’s Commission has been booked in another frivolous case. A 17th, Naresh Yadav has been arrested by the Punjab police for desecration, simply on the statement of someone (Mr. Badal is a quick learner), an FIR has just been registered by a dismissed AAP MLA, Asim Khan of Matia Mahal alleging death threats to him from Kejriwal, no less: I wouldn’t be surprised if this is used to nail Kejriwal. If you think this is beginning to sound like an Agatha Christie murder mystery (“and then there were none….”), you’d be right, but wait – there’s more. There’s a legal John Grisham twist too.
Another 21 MLAs of AAP are likely to be disqualified soon because they were appointed Parliamentary Secretaries without an enabling law. It was stupid of Kejriwal to have done so without ensuring that the legislation was in place, but then how was he to know that the law in India has more twists and turns than one of Baba Ramdev’s yogic asanas, or India’s Pakistan policy ? Why should his MLAs be disqualified and not those of the 13 other states who also have Parliamentary Secretaries? Why was his legislation not approved by the Union Government when similar laws of other states have been approved? Why is the Election Commission picking on Delhi alone for examining this issue and not the other states? Why, for instance, does Himachal still have Parliamentary Secretaries when the High Court has ruled against the practice ? If the other states can hide their nakedness behind the fig leaf of a law then why deny this fig leaf to Kejriwal ?
Because the others did not give Mr. Modi a whupping he’ll never live down, even if he continues as PM for the next hundred years. Because he wants the Delhi government to fall so that elections can be held again and Mr. Modi can redeem himself again. Its a bit like Sushil Kumar, having lost out to Narsingh Yadav for the Olympics, insisting on a re-trial. Hell hath no fury like a pracharak scorned.
In pursuance of his scorched earth policy – for the price is being paid by ordinary Delhi-ites (that is, those who don’t live in Lutyen’s Delhi) – Mr. Modi will just not let the Delhi government function. Kejriwal is not allowed any say in the postings of his officers (always an accepted privilege of a Chief Minister): officers are shunted in and out of Delhi (mainly out) at the whims of the Home Ministry, and within Delhi by the LG. They have no accountability to the Chief Minister and are constantly looking towards North Block or the Raj Bhavan for their very survival. The Delhi Police are Mr. Modi’s hit men, told to pick off one MLA or the other on any charge – it doesn’t matter that the charges are trumped up and will ultimately fail: in our judicial system the process of proving oneself innocent is the real punishment, and the arbiters of this are the police, not the judiciary.
The Delhi police will not cooperate with Kejriwal on any matter, the latest instance being the just concluded 3 day strike by auto and taxi unions. Instigated by the BJP, these goons employed violence and intimidation to ensure that even those autos/taxis which wanted to ply were not allowed to, and the 70000 odd police force did nothing to stop this hooliganism. I myself witnessed this on the 27th evening, at Madhu Vihar in east Delhi. Autos were being forcibly stopped by gangs of ruffians, their drivers being roughed up and their keys taken away. Not 20 meters away stood a group of cops, watching benignly, splendidly indolent as the law was being beaten to a pulp within sight.
The FIRs against, and the arrests of, AAP MLAs is far worse because these are law makers who are being intimidated and prevented from doing their job. It is no coincidence that, except in a couple of FIRs, in all the others the charges are of ‘molestation’, ‘intimidation’ and ‘outraging the modesty’ of women. There is a reason for this: thanks to recent badly conceived amendments to the law no evidence is needed to level this charge other than an unsupported statement of the complainant (poor Justice Verma must be turning in his grave at maximum revolutions). We all know how adept the police are at extracting ‘statements’, and this law has come in very handy for them in executing Mr. Modi’s grand plan. In fact, its becoming a bit hilarious now: every second day we have some woman or the other coming out of the woodwork screaming, having just realised that she has been ‘molested’ by an AAP leader and insisting that he be arrested. Meanwhile, of course, the real rapes continue unabated because our police are busy rounding up Kejriwal’s supporters.
Every single initiative of Kejriwal is being sabotaged. The Home Ministry will not clear at least twelve Bills passed by the Delhi Assembly relating to initiatives on health, education, land use, etc., on ridiculous ‘technical’ grounds, because the BJP doesn’t wish to see him deliver on any of his election promises. The DDA will not transfer land needed for public infrastructure (new schools, hospitals, bus stands) for the same reason. The three Corporations (all controlled by the BJP) will cooperate in NOTHING – they have already instigated three strikes by their employees in the last 18 months, hoping that the resultant civic mess will rebound badly on Kejriwal’s administration. The LG will raise innumerable objections on every proposal of the Delhi government and accord his grudging approval only when he can squat on it no longer.
What Mr. Modi is doing to a constitutionally elected government in Delhi is an affront to the people of Delhi. He should let the state government function and stand or fall on its own merits. If, as some believe strongly, Kejriwal is a charlatan who is taking the people for a ride, then let the electorate of Delhi decide his future. By misusing the coercive power of the union government to undermine Kejriwal’s administration, Mr. Modi is only exposing his petty mind-set and a deep insecurity, which the people of Delhi (and other states) are bound to see through sooner or later. This can only benefit Kejriwal.
Mr. Modi is also making a big mistake by reposing so much faith in the arrogance of his position and power. Kejriwal is a fighter. The Prime Minister can do worse than ponder over the words of Mark Twain:
” Its not about the size of the dog in the fight, its about the size of the fight in the dog.”
| The author retired from the IAS in December 2010. A keen environmentalist and trekker he has published a book on high altitude trekking in the Himachal Himalayas: THE TRAILS LESS TRAVELLED.
His second book- SPECTRE OF CHOOR DHAR is a collection of short stories based in Himachal and was published in July 2019. His third book was released in August 2020: POLYTICKS, DEMOCKRAZY AND MUMBO JUMBO is a compilation of satirical and humorous articles on the state of our nation. His fourth book was published on 6th July 2021. Titled INDIA: THE WASTED YEARS , the book is a chronicle of missed opportunities in the last nine years. Shukla’s fifth book – THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER’S DOG AND OTHER COLLEAGUES- was released on 12th September 2023. It portrays the lighter side of life in the IAS and in Himachal. He writes for various publications and websites on the environment, governance and social issues. He divides his time between Delhi and his cottage in a small village above Shimla. He blogs at http://avayshukla.blogspot.in/ |
Its true that some of K’s actions and decisions do appear impulsive and imature, more especially his random comments and allegations. But they need to be seen in their unusual context where he is being obstructed at every step, persecuted daily by the Delhi police, his administration being undermined by the LG and Home Ministry, the entire elite media ranged against him. Many of the ” insiders” in the Delhi administration( read Dhanics and IAS officers) have turned against him for two reasons: [a] they have been brow-beaten by the Home and Personnel Ministries( who, as you know, are their cadre controlling authorities and decide their future) by transfers and liberal use of the Anti Corruption Branch: bureaucrats always know which side of their bread is buttered! and [b] K. is trying to enforce accountability which has become an alien concept for these officers and hence the friction. The Modi govt. is also rattled by pre-poll surveys in Punjab ( going to elections early next year) which show AAP will sweep the state, and the effort is to somehow castrate/ discredit the party before that. The Congress is hand in glove with the BJP in this desperate conspiracy because it was hoping to come to power in Punjab before the AAP threw its hat into the ring. AAP is a threat to ALL mainstream parties. What it actually represents is not just a political divide but a SOCIAL divide, and the struggle is one between those who are happy with the status quo and those who want to change it, between Gymkhana Club and Patparganj, as it were !
Hey, hey, hey, Avay, don’t deride Gymkhana Club – I’m for it AND Patparganj both. (True, it is through sheer luck and my Dad’s foresight that I’m enjoying the former. And as a guest I liked the CSOI a lot, too.) Seriously, though, you’re right and I can see why K.’s frustrations and victimization could make him act petulantly at times. Winning in a “real” state like Punjab instead of a “semi” state like Delhi should give the AAP a much better shot at proving its worth.
Isn’t that a rule clearly says that you can have 15% of your MLA’s as state secretaries? not more than that.
All other states that were mentioned in comparison with Delhi does not exceed the directed (by Low) percentage and Delhi does exceed 15% and has 31.3%.
Can you please list those fake FIR’s against AAP leaders and the correct ones?
The percentage rule you are alluding to refers to Ministers, and not Parliamentary Secretaries. There is no provision in the Constitution for the latter, and Kejriwal should not have appointed them. Equally, the appointments in 13 other states( including BJP/allies states) are also unconstitutional, and that is the point I was making: why single out Delhi alone for disqualification of MLAs?
The FIRs are all patently contrived, except the one against Mr. Tomar the ex Law Minister. They are all based on unsupported statements of assorted ” complainants”: the very fact that the accused MLAs are released on bail by the courts almost immediately proves this. Some have already been acquitted. Meanwhile, leaders of the BJP accused of much more serious offences and against whom there is substantial prima facie evidence are allowed to roam free. The F.I.R. is no more just a legal instrument- it has now become a political tool.