Delhi Drama: Arvind Kejriwal is king without a kingdom!

Imagine a king without a kingdom or a warrior at the battlefield fighting with no weapons or shield. Confused? Well, don’t be. This is exactly the condition of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Ministers who have the post and power but cannot exercise it due to the tussle with Aam Aadmi Party’ arch-rival – Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who is in power at the Centre.

Though the lawmaking authority is with AAP, the legislative powers remain in the hands of bureaucrats who according to the ruling party in Delhi, are not following the orders and have staged a ‘tactical dharna’ (protest) since four months.

Probably the bureaucrats have forgotten that they are dealing with a stubborn engineer, who has a history of staging ‘Dharna’ since Anna Hazare movement in 2013. Kejriwal’s stubbornness and determination was the main factor behind the implementation of Lokpal Bill, along with the help of Anna Hazare though.

The short tenure of 49 days in Delhi from December 2013 to February 2014 and the coming back to power again with a thumping majority of 67 MLAs out of 70 in 2015, proves that IITan-turned-bureaucrat-turned-politician is here to stay, come what may. Not only Kejriwal is stubborn, even his companions like his deputy Manish Sisodia, and ministers Gopal Rai and Satyendra Jain pose the same behaviour.

It is of the sheer fact to recognise that the decisions taken over by the AAP government might have offended some, but have brought smiles on many faces. Decreasing the electricity bill, slashing the water bill, improvement of education in the Union territory and launch of Mohalla clinics are some of the successful schemes. Co-incidentally the performance of the government school children in 2018’s board exams has been far better than most of the private schools in the capital.

Blame Game:

Now, with the alleged dis-functioning of several departments due to the bureaucrats’ strike and non-cooperation movement, these four ministers have sat on an indefinite “Dharna”, in none other than Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal’s house since Monday. After Jain, Sisodia too has joined the hunger strike on Wednesday.

Putting the blame on the Kejriwal government, the IAS Association is claiming to have continued to work even after the Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash being allegedly tortured on February 19, 2018. The association is also of the opinion that the Union Territory government ministers have no time for finding the solution for important issues, says a report published in Outlook on June 12.

The Jung

Like it or not, but you just cannot ignore Kejriwal and his way of politics. This hardworking politician has shown the world that even a sitting chief minister can stage a protest if things are not right according to him.

Kejriwal’s past histories of tussles with former Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung is well known and it continued until the last working day of the bureaucrat till 2016. Since the AAP convener came to full power in 2015, he has been facing resistance for the Centre in the functioning of the government and has protested too on several occasions, even at Jantar Mantar.

Complaining about the interference of the central government, the AAP government even knocked the doors of the court in 2016. Initially, the Delhi High Court reserved its order in favour of the Bhartiya Janata Party-led government, but the determined AAP leaders reached to the Supreme Court with their continuous appeals. The apex court referred the matter to the constitutional bench in February 2017, which heard the arguments but reserved its hearing for seven months.

AAP’s Next Move:

Kejriwal and co, sitting on a strike at LG’s lobby, and his party spokespersons interacting with the media, have a clear agenda of taking the power in hands again. From re-launching the Mohalla clinics to door-to-door ration delivery, the APP government is trying to get the administration controlled and the schemes to function properly.

Though their concepts and motives look blurred for now, the people’s chosen party is sharpening its knives slowly that they have gathered during the battle over a couple of years. On one side, the saffron party is moving forward to capture the throne, Kejriwal and co. are waiting for the perfect time to roar. Let’s see who wins the battle of stubbornness.