Arvind Kejriwal’s Mumbai trip, similar to his Gujarat trip, was marred with controversy. In Gujarat, Kejriwal being detained by the police and having the front side of the glass broken by a ruthless mob while sitting in the front seat opposite to the driver was not well received by his party men who in Delhi, voiced out a protest outside the BJP office which led to physical fights, throwing of chairs and beating with sticks, using perhaps all undemocratic means to attack the ‘opponent’ as if in a war.
Extreme ruckus was created which made the police to intervene (who also got beaten up thanks to human savagery) and the crowd had to be pacified using water cannons. While both the sides are to blame for indulging in a spat, the media blamed AAP outrightly which came as a bit of a shock as even BJP workers used chairs to attack them (surely AAP members were not marching with chairs).
The truth is, people get influenced with media easily. This very media which once went gaga with Kejriwal’s ‘aam aadmi’ ideology and highlighted his good work, left no stones unturned to topple him from the position of a hero and made him as a trouble monger, a man who seeks publicity for himself from the media. On one hand, he used media as a tool to expose corruption and communalism practiced by the politicians, his relationship with the same media has turned sour due to his and his party’s recent actions or misdeeds.
His recent trip to Mumbai was no different. Some criticised him of violating the order promulgated by the police that not more than five persons can assemble in one place. Others criticised him of accommodating more than three persons in the auto-rickshaw for which his driver was fined. Then he boarded a train for Churchgate in a compartment filled with media persons and supporters. It is needless to say that he caused great hassle to commuters trying to rush to their respective offices during that peak hour. To add to it, the rush of supporters led to three metal detectors at the station to be toppled. He has been booked along with his supporters under Section 188 (Disobedience to order promulgated by public servant) and Section 143 (Unlawful assembly).
The question which arises here is why Kejriwal is inviting controversy wherever he goes? Is it a ploy of the other parties and media as he and his party states? Surely he is not naïve enough to commit such grave mistakes having the back up of a good education and a powerful position in job. Besides, he doesn’t even want to tarnish his image by creating such controversies. So what is the real reason?
There remains many questions unanswered. One is why did Kejriwal resign after governing for 49 days when he was so sure that his government had done the best work in such a short span? Besides, what about leaking of a video in which he is seen saying off record to a popular journalist to emphasise on certain parts of his conversation? Is he using media for his own convenience? Why did he shift his gear to communalism when his actual battle was for eliminating corruption? After resigning from the chief minister’s post, why is he still involved in political rallies?
The truth is for the people to judge. They should use their discretion and not blindly believe any rhetoric by political parties or the angle as presented, debated and discussed upon by the media. We urban citizens are an educated lot and we should be aware of the happenings and use our own logic to choose a suitable candidate for the 2014 general election.
