The way Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Ministers reacted to the CBI raid in CM Office against his trusted lieutenant Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar, has not gone down well with the people, especially the language that he used against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A major debate has started in the political circles whether the Central Government’s action would dent the AAP image or it would go against the saffron outfit. Some feel that if Kejriwal is clean, he should not fear the CBI probe and vehement protests by the AAP leadership could send a wrong message that the party which stood for anti-corruption measures was now shielding an officer facing serious cases of corruption.
There are others who feel that there is something fishy that’s why Kejriwal Government is worried. There is a feeling that Kejriwal could have accepted the raid and declared to cooperate with the investigations rather than using highly intemperate language.
While some political pundits felt that the CBI raid against Kumar would vindicate the Kejriwal Government’s stand that the BJP-led Centre was vindictive against it. A small section within the AAP felt that had the party leadership welcomed the CBI move and left it for the judiciary to take a final call on the matter, it would have brought dividends to it in the longer run.
With three strong non-BJP run State chief ministers - Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal, Nitish Kumar of Bihar and Naveen Patnaik of Odisha, and the Congress condemning the CBI raid, the message in some quarters is loud and clear that if the saffron outfit acts against non-BJP leaders, they are bound to join hands together to take on the PM.
A senior political analyst said even if the CBI had taken any file related to the DDCA, it hardly matters. “After all the CBI is a Government agency and it has taken only official document with it. The investigating agency can be approached to get back the DDCA file. let the court decide the matter of DDCA.”
But the larger question is that the AAP seems to be in no mood to reach out to any understanding with the Centre for better and efficient day-to-day governance, said sources.
The analyst said the AAP wants to play the role of a victim so that it can gain sympathy in the coming Punjab Assembly elections. “The party has already got huge support from so many Chief Ministers. They want to carry on with their anti-saffron mission.”
Another political pundit said opposition of the AAP against the CBI raid has raised the stature of Kejriwal. “Now the battle is not between the AAP and the BJP. It is a straight fight between Kejriwal and Modi. Once this message percolates to the masses, the Muslim and other backward class voters are bound to support Kejriwal.”
“Is Kejriwal afraid that Kumar’s interrogation would lead the CBI to alleged corruption in the AAP Government’s huge spending on self-congratulatory advertisementsIJ These are matters for the courts to decide and nothing will be clear immediately,” said analyst.
A local Congress leader Chattar Singh said the way Kejriwal and his team reacted, give a clear message that something is fishy and all is not well in the City Government. If they are honest then they should not worry. “Kejriwal is worried about his image. He was not worried about Kumar who risked his future,” said the Congress leader.
A senior BJP leader said if the Transparency International and others had provided prior information to the CM, what was the guarantee he would not have tipped off his officer, who was facing serious corruption charges. “By defending Kumar, Kejriwal has made it loud and clear that he was least interested in weeding out corrupt officials but more interested in playing politics and using CBI raid to get political mileage. He simply wants to grab headlines by talking rubbish. Otherwise, no sane person could use words like psychopath for his Prime Minister,” said the leader.
However, a senior AAP functionary said the BJP was trying to scare his party by involving the CBI. “But such actions won’t deter us from raising our voice concerning the common man. Right from day one, the Modi Government has not been cooperating with the AAP administration, which clearly shows they do not want us to succeed in evolving an corruption-free mechanism in Delhi.”