Kejriwal is Chief Minister; he must learn civility
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is not known for dignified language, but he crossed the limit even by his own low standards on Tuesday when he called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “coward and a psychopath”. Thereafter, he refused to apologise even as condemnation poured in from various quarters over his choice of words. There is nothing that can justify Mr Kejriwal's conduct, and certainly not the provocation that came with the Central Bureau of Investigation's raid on his Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar over corruption the officer had allegedly indulged in. The Chief Minister was naturally rattled by the development, given that Mr Kumar is considered close to him. But how did he get it into his head that the Prime Minister was behind the raidIJ He ridiculously claimed that Mr Modi and his Government were out to “intimidate” him and settle scores which they failed to do politically. The CBI had acted on a complaint that had been filed by a fellow officer who, incidentally, had been once close to the Aam Aadmi Party's senior leadership. It collected primary material, approached the relevant court for a search warrant and only then raided 14 locations including the Principal Secretary's office. The Chief Minister then resorted to what is clearly an untruth: That the CBI had raided his office too. Both the Union Government and the investigating agency have clarified that no raid had been conducted at Mr Kejriwal's office, but the Chief Minister has continued to peddle the lie in his bid to garner support from opposition parties that are only too willing to latch on to anything to shoot at the Prime Minister. The Chief Minister has not provided a shred of evidence to illustrate that his office had been raided; this is not surprising because there is no evidence. But facts don't matter to Mr Kejriwal. Aam Aadmi Party leaders have been saying that the Chief Minister ought to have been informed about the raids the CBI planned to conduct. In the first place, the CBI is not legally bound to take the Chief Minister into confidence in such matters. In the present case, there was absolutely no reason, even on grounds of propriety, for the CBI to have intimated Mr Kejriwal since the targeted officer and the Chief Minister are considered close. Incidentally, it has been the AAP's stated position that in matters of corruption, the CBI need not inform the Chief Minister before raids are conducted. A party formed on the foundations of fighting corruption has behaved in a rather strange way.
What is as shocking is the reaction of certain opposition parties, primarily the Trinamool Congress, to the incident. The Trinamool Congress has taken hook, line and sinker Mr Kejriwal's blatant lie, and converted a case of corruption into one of an attack on the Constitution's federal structure. This is the same party whose several members have been rounded up in the Saradha chit fund scam and we don't know how many more will be exposed in the months to come. How is a CBI raid on a State Government officer on allegations of corruption equivalent to dishonouring the federal spiritIJ There are serious allegations against Mr Rajendra Kumar, and the probe agency must be allowed to do its job. There cannot be any politicisation of the issue.