Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has once again demonstrated what he is best at. Seeking suspension of some police personnel for ‘disobeying’ orders of his Ministers, Kejriwal too chose to defy the prohibitory orders staging a dharna at Central Secretariat on Monday.
In less than a month of becoming Delhi’s Chief Minister, Kejriwal turned into a full-time agitator and threatened to stay put for the next 10 days for what appears to be an attempt to divert the attention from the core issues of water, power, corruption and certainly the law and order crisis created by his own Ministers. This was rather surprising as Kejriwal took to the streets pressing for removal of five Delhi cops, including two ACPs and an SHO in Malviya Nagar area who refused to conduct a raid on four African women on mere suspicion of law Minister Somnath Bharti regarding their involvement in drug and prostitution. The complicity of the Minister and his associates was already established with a city court ordering registration of FIR against them.
As Kejriwal claimed, the protest was for the cause of the common men but what emerged on Day One was well within the definition of ‘ego clash’. The Chief Minister’s insistence to go ahead with the dharna despite court’s order against his Minister reflected his lack of respect for the judicial system as his demand for bringing Delhi Police under the control of Delhi Government exhibited his disbelief in the democratic norms. Such has been the haste to achieve its political goals which includes gaining control of Delhi Police, the Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party has resorted to arm-twisting and spilling on to roads that can only be called ‘anarchic’ in a democratic set up.
It is pretty evident from the ongoing stir that the issues of water, power and corruption on which the Government has largely failed to act and provide relief of any sort. While Government’s announcement of subsidised power and water proved to be eyewash, its commitment to curb corruption culminated in a helpline which was solely based on sting operations whose veracity has already been questioned by Chief Minister Kejriwal time and again. With nothing concrete to offer to meet the expectations of the Delhi’s population, the AAP’s latest move has put these core issues on the backburner. Needless to say, the entire Delhi Cabinet has withdrawn from its duty and the job of the CM and his Ministers has been confined to signing files sitting at the protest venue.