Arvind Kejriwal led AAP to a historic mandate where they won 67 of the 70 constituencies in the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections. They reduced the otherwise invincible BJP to a dismal three seats and the INC couldn’t get off the mark. This speaks volumes about the trust that people invested in Kejriwal. But since the day he assumed office, things haven’t been moving on the right track AT ALL.
Latest feather to Kejriwal’s already colorful hat is his feud with the Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi. The appointment of senior bureaucrat Shakuntala Gamlin as acting Chief Secretary by LG last week escalated into an ugly public spat between Delhi CM and the Lt. Governor. Kejriwal questioned the LG’s authority and accused him of trying to take over the administration. The spat showed new shades of malice with each passing day. Kejriwal ended up locking a bureaucrat’s office and the IAS fraternity, in no mood of getting bullied, retaliated with an impressive show of strength and solidarity. Accusations kept flying left, right and center from both the warring sides. Even a meeting with the president couldn’t solve the disagreement. Arvind Kejriwal “insisted” the center to intervene even as he kept accusing the center of ghost directing the LG’s moves. The center came up with a logical solution by issuing a notification which clearly lays down the powers of the lieutenant governor of the national capital territory of Delhi. Here is a snapshot of the MHA notification to the Delhi CM. The verdict was clearly in favor of the LG of Delhi.
Since the LG and the CM were not ready to sit down, discuss and come up with a conclusion, the central government intervened. And the solution it came up with was both logical and constitutional. The constitution says that the LG will have jurisdiction over matters connected with services, public order, police and land and he may consult with the Chief Minister whenever he thinks necessary in issues of services using his own “discretion”.
Kejriwal took no time in expressing his disgust on Twitter with this tweet of his:
BJP first lost Del elections. Today's notification shows BJP's nervousness abt our anti-corruption efforts. BJP again lost today
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 22, 2015
The PM or MHA neither drafted the constitution nor did they amend it. Suggesting constitutional solutions to disputes between two office holders is the most democratic thing to do in a democratic setup. Calling it the murder of democracy is a laughable jest
#ModiKilledDemocracy started trending on twitter in no time. People created mock gazette templates, put in their names and tweeted in order to show solidarity with the Delhi Government. Needless to say that these were the steadfast devotees of Arvind Kejriwal who can go to any magnitude in order to support their idol.
And when Arvind Kejriwal accuses people of being undemocratic, the jest becomes funnier. Let us take a look at his track record:
- Removed Prashant Bhushan who refused to be his stooge
- Removed Yogendra Yadav who refused to be his stooge
- Removed AAP’s Lokpal Admiral Ramdas who expressed dissent over infighting in AAP
- Bhagwant Mann was installed in place of Dharamvir Gandhi as AAP leader in Parliament as the latter sided with Bhushan and Yadav
- AAP issued a diktat to curb Media that dared to criticize the Delhi Government
- Allowed people with fake degrees to work with him
Arvind Kejriwal couldn’t maintain democracy in his own party and now he is accusing Modi of murdering democracy. Chutzpah, much? I’d call this verdict a grand victory of democracy.
Picture sources: http://rashtriyakhabar.com, niticentral.com