The problem with a person
who has branded himself as non-corruptible is that they cannot digest actions
against him or his own people on charges of corruption. Such people are in a continuous
self-praising mode. When somebody hurts their pride they almost scream against
that and throw foul language, absurd arguments, etc…
There are many many such
people in Indian politics, also in the BJP, but the most prominent name still
remains Mr. Arvind Kejriwal.
The arguments of Kejriwal
almost resemble the famous Deewar dialogue of the great Amitabh Bachchan: "Jao
pehle us aadmi ka sign lekar aao jisne mere haath par ye likh diya tha…."
If CBI or for that matte
any police department had to go by that logic, none of the accused in any scam,
irregularities or crimes will ever be caught. Because then everyone will start
shouting the same dialogue.
The anger of Kejriwal is
understandable. Particularly when his one of the trusted lieutenants is questioned.
But then he also should remember that in past 6 months his other 4 trusted
people have been under scanner.
Once the CBI got raided 14
places in the NCR and Uttar Pradesh, a clearly unhappy Kejriwal said if CBI had
to lay hands on his principal secretary Rajendra Kumar, the investigative
agency should first nab ministers in the earlier Sheila Dikshit government.
Not stopping there
Kejriwal went ahead to say "I will send my son to jail even, if there is
evidence of wrongdoing against him."
His other argument is
that CBI should have informed him and he would have acted.
1. Does Kejriwal have a problem
with CBI acting without informing him or on the complete action at all?
2. Is he angry that he did
not get a chance to show to people of Delhi that he acted on another of his
ministers?
3. Does that mean that every
action against his own people will be taken by Kejriwal himself?
4. Does it not mean that in
a sense CBI starts to report to him?
5. Does it not mean that
Kejriwal is contradicting his own statement that investigating agencies should
be autonomous?
In this case, he made
accusations against Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, attributing CBI raids to
search for files on Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA), which the senior
BJP leader headed for decades. It is no secret that after he became chief
minister this year, Kejriwal has been very keen to pursue the DDCA case on the
basis of accusations of wrongdoing made by two former Test cricketers from
Delhi and some other related functionaries. Most information available is
already with Kejriwal and yet, no one is sure of the merit of accusations
against DDCA nor has any evidence cropped up against Jaitley but that’s how
Kejriwal functions. Make big bang charges against the high and mighty, hit the
headlines and let it sink in public perception through corner talks at various
levels. That is what he did in 2014 general elections when he stood against
Modi. He was sure he will lose but he surely latched on the publicity of Modi.
He just tried to be with a big shark fish and gathered small bits of food which
fell down from the shark’s mouth.
In this case also, he
didn’t elaborate what possibly could be the case against Jaitley other than
saying CBI’s real motive was to find DDCA files.
In May 2015, Kejriwal had
accused the then Delhi acting chief secretary Shakuntala Gamlin, a senior woman
IAS officer, of lobbying for private electricity companies, misconduct and
insinuating corruption. But with passage of time, once she relinquished the
post of chief secretary, nobody heard of any follow up action against her.
Kejriwal’s accusation
against Jaitley or attaching the CBI raids with a particular motive has one
major flaw. The CBI couldn’t have found the DDCA file even if such file existed
as in his own words no file stays in his office for more than 10-15 days!!!
Judged against that claim, Kejriwal's barrage of charge against the CBI and the
Union finance minister raises more questions than Its surprising that the chief
minister himself stands for an officer in his government against whom CBI
conducted raids only hours ago. This is particularly surprising when Kejriwal
is keen to bring a law which can arrest Prime Minister without anybody’s
consent!!! Is Kejriwal overreacting and putting his own reputation in the line
just as he did during the arrest of his former law minister Jitender Singh
Tomar by Delhi Police in the fake degree case? Or is he fearing that the
searches might lead to something else, which could trouble him in future?
The case is so sensitive
that without having a concrete ad substantial lead, the CBI won’t lay their
hands on the principal secretary to the Delhi chief minister and conduct raids
at his office in the chief minister’s. No government would want to risk it,
that too when Parliament session is on. Hence there is a possibility that
Kejriwal is shouting due to fear of something coming out which is uncomfortable
for him.
Now that the raids have
happened, all connected parties, either the CBI and the Modi government or
Kejriwal and AAP will have cow dung on their face and no ground to stand as
more details would emerge. Common sense says that CBI must have done its
homework well, otherwise it will have to lot of explaining to its political fraternity.
If the agency failed to do so, it should prepare itself to face the wrath of
the courts and also to take further beating of its image in public perception
and would make a clear image of a caged parrot. As of now, there is simply too
much at stake for the “premier” investigative agency. Perhaps Kejriwal and his
colleagues should have shown some patience and waited for contradicting evidence
to surface before blazing all guns against the CBI and Modi-led government at
the Centre.
It is not at all surprising
that the Kejriwal defended his use of un-parliamentary language. He is a
habitual offender in that sense. The language only suggests that Kejriwal has
transformed himself into a hardcore politician who is now aware how to swing an
adversarial situation into a rhetorical advantage.
Despite the political
acumen that the Delhi chief minister gathered in such a short spell of time,
there is something he should put his thoughts to. Many of those whom he entrusted,
Jitendra Singh Tomar, Somnath Bharti, Rakhi Birla - all have found themselves
in the wrong side of the law. This time, the chief minister has again vouched
for another of his trusted lieutenants to the extent that he declared a virtual
war against the Prime Minister's Office. One can only hope that Rajendra
Kumar’s name does not end up clubbed with the names just mentioned. Finally,
when a person or a party stands on ideology of being un-corruptible and being
clean, the party has to go through such “agnipariksha”. Kejriwal could have hit a political sixer had he given a
statement to support CBI action and was ready to provide any help to CBI to
unearth any wrong doings. Instead he chose to oppose which has led people to
speculate “Is there something to hide Mr. Kejriwal?”
