The overwhelming opinion has been that the CM has shown no understanding of the rules that govern Delhi’s administration, while demanding powers that he cannot be given in the present scheme of things, says RAJESH SINGH
Former Minister in the Sheila Dikshit Government and senior Delhi Congress leader Kiran Walia recently said she would need to be a psychologist to understand Arvind Kejriwal’s functioning. She is not alone; many, including political analysts, must be ruing why they had not done a course in human behaviour — or, to be blunt, in irrational human behaviour. But then they had not reckoned with an anarchist like Kejriwal becoming the Chief Minister, either. So, heartfelt sympathies are due across the board.
Hobbled by the handicap, one must nevertheless heed the call of duty and attempt to make sense of the anti-corruption activist-turned politician. Developments over the past one week have effectively over-ridden the fact that the Kejriwal Government completes 100 days in office today. In itself that is an achievement, given that the last time around the Chief Minister and his group had abandoned office in a mere 49 days, and then lobbied surreptitiously with the Congress for a fresh arrangement that would bring them back to power. After the ongoing daily soap drama that has been unfolding as a result of the clash between the Delhi Government and the lt Governor over a petty matter, really and seriously, is anybody even interested in the Aam Aadmi Party regime’s performance in the first 100 daysIJ
AAP leaders, who have been visiting television channel studios lately, have demonstrated desperation to shift the focus on the ‘achievements’ of their Government. This is not because they have a lot to showcase but because that will at least take the limelight away from the repeated self-goals Kejriwal and company have been making in their tiff with the lt Governor.
Although they have received support from stray sources in the confrontation, the overwhelming opinion has been that the Chief Minister has shown no understanding of the Constitution and the rules that govern Delhi’s administration, while demanding powers that he cannot be given in the present scheme of things. ‘Immature’ is the least offensive word that has been used against him in this context; ‘ignorant’ and ‘devious’ are the stronger ones.
If a few of the Kejriwal loyalists want media commentators to discuss the Government’s performance, the supremo himself has his ‘battle for principles’ to highlight. At a recent rally of auto-rickshaw drivers, he thundered that he would be keeping close tabs on the functioning of his Power Secretary because he suspected her of promoting the interests of private power distribution companies. When was the last time that a Chief Minister humiliated a senior IAS officer in public viewIJ Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had done that long ago to his Foreign Secretary and had been slammed for the indiscretion. Incidentally, the lady officer, Shakuntala Gamlin, is now the acting Chief Secretary of Delhi. Where was the need for the Chief Minister to take his differences with a section of the bureaucracy and the lt Governor, to a public platform — and that too a rally of auto-rickshaw drivers, of all peopleIJ
Meanwhile, the auto-rickshaw drivers must be a happy lot, but not because Kejriwal will be personally monitoring the lady IAS officer’s conduct — in a Sherlock Holmes like manner which will suddenly improve electricity supply in their homes. They must be happy because they can now officially turn down customers on the pretext that they are headed home. Who can stop auto-rickshaw drivers from going home in the morning hours, or in the afternoon, or peak evening time or late nightsIJ ‘Mayur ViharIJ Sorry, I’m going home to Dilshad Garden’. Auto-rickshaw drivers can avoid inconvenience; never mind the inconvenience to the passengers. And next time around, they can vote for the ‘broom’.
Targeting the Power Secretary has its advantages. Kejriwal has done little to improve the power supply situation in the State. This is not surprising given that he has treated the distribution companies with disdain. Now, he hopes to kill two birds with one stone: Confront the Centre and enhance his stock with the other Opposition parties on the pretext of protecting the country’s federal structure, and use the lady officer as a scapegoat for the Government’s likely failure to address the power crisis that looms large before the State this summer.
Gamlin may have been the first IAS officer in Kejriwal’s recent line of fire, but she was not the last. In a sustained fit of fury, the Chief Minister acted against another IAS officer for issuing orders appointing Gamlin as the acting Chief Secretary on the lt Governor’s instructions. He was stripped of his charge and his office room locked. His portfolio was given to another officer, a decision which was promptly nullified by the lt Governor. There will be more to come.
The Secretary, who handles the water department or the Delhi Jal Board, must be chewing his nails in worry. One of the Aam Aadmi Party’s promises was to ensure the supply of running water to all households in the State, and at highly subsidised rates. Many colonies do not yet have even a pipeline, what to talk of piped water!
The water tanker service is reportedly as unreliable as it is extortionate. The ‘water mafia’, which Kejriwal alleged had been having a field day for long, still flourishes. The Delhi Government had promised 20,000 litres of free water to every household each month. This has been only very partially, and more symbolically than otherwise, achieved.
Now, it would be unreasonable for the Chief Minister (who does not hold any portfolio) or his Minister for Water Resources to be held accountable for the failures. Naturally they are super-efficient; it’s the IAS officer handling the department who must answer. levelling an unsubstantiated allegation against an officer is never the difficult part to implement — not for AAP leaders. Where there is resolve, there are Shakuntala Gamlins to be found. In the worst case scenario, there is neighbouring Haryana, ruled by the ‘anti-AAP’ Bharatiya Janata Party, that can be blamed for holding back Delhi’s share of the water when it matters most.
The problem is: The exercise of finding scapegoats has its limits. If too many of them are unearthed in too quick a succession, the scapegoats can turn into heroes and martyrs, in the process ruining the best plans. And too many of the meek babus (who may not remain all that meek if pushed to edge) will be required by the AAP regime to hide its failings.
It’s not just power and water supplies, but basic healthcare too that is in shambles in Delhi. The State of the World’s Mothers Report 2015 reports that Delhi fares worse than Rwanda, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Haiti when it comes to the level of governmental concern for the nourishment of poor women and children. The report goes on to inform that just 27 per cent of the poorest of poor women in Delhi have access to prenatal care; only 19 per cent have trained attendants during child-birth. While these are not overnight figures and are a result of years of neglect, Kejriwal had promised to reverse the trend and provide basic and quality healthcare too all citizens.
But he is focused on three important matters for now: The first is on how to repeatedly create deep administrative, if not constitutional, crises in Delhi, that will project him as a David standing up to a Goliath (the Centre and everyone else who represents or appears to represent it). The second is to pick soft targets: Public servants who cannot publicly defend themselves; industrialists who don’t wish to engage in open spats with politicians; high constitutional bodies that cannot stoop to his level to match his slander. And the third is to manufacture a faux belief that there is a groundswell of public support for the AAP’s shenanigans. These have become Kejriwal’s yardstick of success. Governance can wait.