The path, or the spectacle, that Kejriwal has chosen to climb out of his corner is not new.
Delhi is set to get a new chief minister, according to a plan set in motion by Delhi’s just-resigned chief minister. Arvind Kejriwal had walked out of jail on bail Friday to a challenge: The self-styled anti-corruption crusader, who first burst upon the political scene as part of the Anna Hazare movement that unfolded under the arc lights of the nation’s capital and contributed to the downfall of a government that was seen to be scam-riddled, needs to retrieve his lost mantle. He needs to blot out the stains left by the excise policy case, in which his government is accused of tweaking policy to benefit the cartelisation of the liquor trade in Delhi as part of a quid pro quo. The CBI-ED cases of corruption and money laundering could prove to be sticky in spite of apprehensions, affirmed by the Supreme Court, that his arrest and prolonged detention showed a short-circuiting of due process, on the watch of a Centre wielding central agencies against its opponents to settle political scores. But that’s not the only reason why, in Kejriwal’s book, drastic measures may now be called for. The fact also is that Delhi’s ruling party has let go of the initiative in terms of governance. Because of its constant face-offs with the Centre and its nominee, the L-G, or because of its top leaders’ incarceration, or because it lost the verve that had once papered over its many organisational cracks, the Kejriwal-led AAP seems to be fumbling for a new script.
The path, or the spectacle, that Kejriwal has chosen to climb out of his corner is not new. Many politicians have sought a quick-fix vindication from the “people’s court”. But it remains problematic. Kejriwal has urged that the Delhi assembly elections, scheduled for February 2025, be advanced to November; Atishi will be chief minister till then, and he will become CM again only if the people hand him a certificate of innocence. Kejriwal would know that a similar strategy flopped in the Lok Sabha poll — the BJP swept Delhi, even as he, granted bail to campaign, played victim and martyr. But more importantly, by focusing the AAP’s energies on his own “agnipariksha (trial by fire)”, Kejriwal may be making another mistake, one that could take a toll not just on him and his party, but also on the people of Delhi. Before it turned its attention, almost full-time, to blaming the L-G and BJP, the AAP had earned its popularity by the work it had done in schools and in mohalla clinics. With its governance losing sheen since, what the AAP government needs to do, and what Delhi needs it to do, is to get down to work again. It needs to address an increasingly visible urban disrepair.
Be it on the unchecked waterlogging during rain, or the outbreak of diseases like dengue, or the inattention to issues of pollution and sanitation, the AAP government needs to act, it cannot keep pointing fingers at others. It rules Delhi, and since December 2022, also controls the MCD. Atishi’s elevation will mark a milestone — as the capital’s youngest CM, she comes to the job having handled over a dozen departments with both the CM and his Deputy in prison. Her challenge will be to give direction to a floundering government, and for this she will have to be more than a placeholder. For Kejriwal himself, the shadow behind her throne, the real test will be whether or not the AAP can get a grip on governance.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First uploaded on: 18-09-2024 at 07:18 IST
