Arvind Kejriwal’s jail stunt sickens sane mind
It was only a matter of time before Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal's constant use of high-pitched histrionics as his primary political strategy collapsed against the law of diminishing returns. The lukewarm public response to his recent shenanigans proves that the man, once hailed as the force of change which India needs, has been reduced to a source of political entertainment at best and the cause of much public annoyance and inconvenience at worst. First, Mr Kejriwal's request to re-lead the Delhi Government, which came after his loss of face in the lok Sabha election, failed to curry favour. This was to be expected. After 49 days his Government, Mr Kejriwal had quit his position after he was asked to abide by the rules of the Assembly. It was an act of escapism that Mr Kejriwal sought to sell as one of sacrifice. But the people did not buy it — neither then nor now. With his sacrifice weapon rendered ineffective, Mr Kejriwal has now pulled up another stunt — (voluntary) incarceration at Delhi's Tihar jail. Mr Kejriwal, who has had much success in using the media to portray himself as India's new-age ‘freedom-fighter', willing to brave police batons and jail terms alike for the larger cause of liberating the country from the evils of corruption, had probably calculated that when visuals of him behind bars in prison uniform are broadcast nationwide, he will beguile the people into sympathising with him and rallying in his favour.
But Mr Kejriwal forgot to factor two elements into his calculation: First, the common man is aware of the law of the land. He also knows well that the furnishing of a bail bond is not the equivalent of accepting guilt — though he seeks to imply otherwise. If anything, the AAP chief's refusal to pay bail money is yet another instance of his unwillingness to play by the rules, and the people can see that. Second, Mr Kejriwal has also not considered the depreciated value of his own political capital in his strategy. Ever since he first abused and callously dismissed the historic mandate given to him by the voters of Delhi in the 2013 Assembly election, by quitting from Government, the people don't trust him like they did before. When Mr Kejriwal first charged Mr Nitin Gadkari, who was then the BJP's national president, with tax evasion, the people presumed that the anti-corruption activist had ample evidence to back his claim. Now that Mr Gadkari, having received a clean chit from the tax department, proceeded to file a defamation case against Mr Kejriwal, the AAP chief should prove his allegation in the court and stop lamenting his fate.
That he is shying away from a court battle only adds to the public distrust that Mr Kejriwal has accumulated in recent months. The people had voted him to power so that he could fix a broken system. Instead, as Chief Minister, he side-stepped the system and went on a dharna. When the pressure to govern grew, he changed the game and moved the goalposts. The battle for Delhi Assembly became the battle for Parliament; the campaign against corruption transformed into one against ‘communalism'. He had hoped to replay his Delhi success in Varanasi. But even the drubbing he has received there hasn't taught him a lesson. Meanwhile, he is fast losing associates who are disillusioned by his antics.