There can’t be a better name of Arvind Kejriwal than the ‘Dharna CM’ which Is not only apt but suitable given his style of functioning. His theatrics is on. It is a never-ending drama of Arvind Kejriwal.
Kejriwal has also given a new definition of ‘dharna’. Dharna in English means squatting to protest or in the more simple term it is ‘sit-in-strike’. But Kejriwal’s dharna is reclining and even sleeping on well-cushioned sofa set in an air-conditioned environment. The place of dharna is the office of the Lt Governor of Delhi. He is joined by his ministers in the so-called dharna.
It seems he has not been able to understand that he holds a constitutional office.
More baffling is support of four chief ministers namely Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal, N Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh, H D Kumaraswamy of Karnataka and Pinarayi Vijayan of Kerala for Kejriwal’s dharna. These chief ministers should have given a lesson to Kejriwal on how to work as the Chief Minister of a state. Instead, the four chief ministers who were in Delhi to attend the meeting of NITI Aayog approached Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, June 17 to intervene and resolve the stalemate.
Kejriwal is not working under the pretext of ‘strike’ by IAS officers. The IAS officers say they are not on strike and that they are attending to their work in the office. The protest of IAS officers is against the assault of Delhi Chief Secretary a few months back at the official residence of Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal by MLAs and some Ministers of the AAP Government of Delhi.
A Confrontationist by Nature
Kejriwal is a confrontationist by nature. He was seen waving the flag and leading the anti-corruption agitation of Anna Hazare. He floated a political party and succeeded in winning elections in Delhi. He is now chief minister of the National Capital Territory.
But his instinct to agitate and confront the government is still alive and kicking. Soon after becoming chief minister of Delhi in 2014, he was on a Dharna in the biting cold of winter outside Rail Bhawan. Since he can’t agitate against his own government or who knows one day you can see Kejriwal sitting on dharna to protest against his own government, he has chosen to confront the Lt Governor Anil Baijal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. For all the failure of his government, Kejriwal puts blame on Modi and the Prime Minister’s Office.
He says that the present ‘crisis’ in the Delhi Government is because of the PMO.
A large section of Delhi population is facing the water crisis. The ration distribution is affected but the chief minister talks of delivering ration at the doorstep of ration card holders.
Delhi government recently raised the fixed charge on electric supply meters for domestic consumers from Rs 45 per KW to Rs 170 per KW. For a consumer having 11 KW sanctioned load, he has to pay approximately Rs 1,900 per month even in case he has not consumed even 10 units of power in a month.
Delhi also had government earlier. Sheila Dixit of the Congress Party was chief minister. She was in office for few years when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was Prime Minister of India. But no one heard any confrontation or rift between the Centre and the Government of Delhi. Nor was any conflict between the office of Lt Governor of Delhi and Chief Minister of Delhi then.
What happened all of a sudden with the advent of Arvind Kejriwal becoming Delhi chief minister that Lt Governor and Prime Minister became the villain? It is a sheer failure of Kejriwal to govern the small region of Delhi and manage affairs even when he has a massive mandate with 67 MLAs in the House of 70. Somebody should inquire about his health condition.
He is also known to use foul language against his adversaries. He leveled unsubstantiated charges against Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. When slapped with libel and defamation case, he was cornered. Seeing that he can’t substantiate the charges against Jaitley, he tendered an apology. It was gracious of Jaitley that he accepted Kejriwal’s apology and withdrew the case in Delhi court.
The mandate and the power have gone into Kejriwal’s head. He considers himself ‘king’ of Delhi, hence the demand of full statehood. He is in the habit of insulting bureaucrats. At times treat officers like servants. This was evident when Anshu Prakash, the chief secretary of Delhi was beaten up by MLAs at chief minister’s residence. Kejriwal, you are not Monarch or Dictator of Delhi you are an elected representative of the people. Behave like an elected member or quit the office. People are suffering and you are sitting in Air Conditioned comfort. Jantar Mantar and Ramlila Maidan are the right places for you to work not the Delhi secretariat.
R K SINHA
(The writer is a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha)
