Always itching for a fight

What should have been a clear, cogent case of the Chief Minister for more powers for Delhi has been reduced to a petty turf war with the Lt Governor and a clever BJP government at the Centre, thanks to Kejriwal's passion for rabble-rousing and grabbing headlines. A mammoth vote of confidence in his leadership from the electorate in Delhi and a rejuvenating camp in Bangalore could not calm him down. A perpetual protester in power, he keeps fighting and alienating friends and well-wishers in his party, media and elsewhere.

 

Soon after an apology over the farmer suicide fiasco at his Delhi rally, he took up a small issue of posting of acting Chief Secretary and made vague, unsubstantiated allegations of corruption against bureaucrats. AAP leaders claim they are trying to uncover the “transfer-posting industry”. In the din of attack and counter-attack on Najeeb Jung, the Modi government's pointman in the battle, Kejriwal's case for Delhi statehood has got lost. Many would agree that the Delhi Chief Minister should have the power to appoint officers of his choice, especially when the Prime Minister can issue an ordinance to have an officer he likes. Seven committees have looked into the issue and supported the idea of statehood. In their election manifestos both the BJP and the Congress had promised statehood but they would not like AAP to succeed and walk away with the credit.  

 

Calling the Lt Governor a “Viceroy” and the PMO London, Kejriwal has succeeded in diverting attention from the core issue. He is actually playing into the hands of the BJP, which wants to project him as a serial disrupter.  Like Narendra Modi, who allows himself to get carried away when abroad — this time saying that before becoming the Prime Minister, he was ashamed of being born an Indian —Kejriwal can’t control loose talk and seems bent on squandering all the goodwill he had earned in the run-up to the elections. He has the Assembly platform to discuss the issue of greater autonomy for Delhi. If helpless, he can knock the door of the court for justice.