Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity: Hippocrates
Well in the case of Mr. Gopal Rai, an integral element in the Delhi Government and also a part of the high-headed ministerial group of the Aam Aadmi Party, it seems that he has got a perfect opportunity to put into practice what has been opined by Hippocrates. He has been a key minister in the Arvind Kejriwal led government in Delhi and has been holding several portfolios in the cabinet including PWD, Health, Power and Home until recently. Now after stepping down from the Transport Department of Delhi, the departments left with Mr. Gopal Rai include Labour, Irrigation and Flood Control, General Administration Department (GAD), Development and Employment. These plethora of departments are also too much to handle for a man with ‘health issues’ who has undergone a major surgery recently.
Now any prudent person coming across this news would ask why has Gopal Rai retained all the other departments and just abdicated from the Transport Minister’s position.
Why a selective shedding of power and responsibilities? Wouldn’t it still be too much for him to be in charge of major portfolios in the government and what about efficacy of a minister who has to take important decisions and formulate policy? So we, as those prudent beings have decided to take into consideration these questions and give possible explanation, which will obviously be contradictory to those being circulated in the Mainstream Media, but might find consonance with the statements of a certain member of the Aam Aadmi Party.
To start with, members of AAP have been controversy’s favourite child since its inception. Every now and then some or the other member has been involved in one or many legal/political dispute and every time their saviour, the messiah of honest people in the country, Mr. Kejriwal has come to their rescue, earlier by accusing Congress and now the BJP. This has been the modus operandi of the youngest political party in the Indian political arena. This time also, after accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of perjuring by providing fake degrees and now by pointing fingers at the President of India that he has been working under the influence of Narendra Modi government, the holier than thou party has projected a saintly image of its minister Gopal Rai who has been accused of corrupt practices in the ‘App-based Premium Bus Service’ scam. We can also call it ‘BUSGATE’ by following the popular trend. Now as per Mr. Gopal Rai, there can be no allegation of any form of corruption as the scheme is still in the planning stage and has not been implemented yet. Also that it is a political gimmick to defame him played by the Opposition Leader of Delhi Assembly and the person always at loggerheads with Mr. Kejriwal, the Lieutenant Governor Mr.Najeeb Jung. Further he adds that the Opposition Leader Mr. Vijender Gupta has filed a complaint with the Anti Corruption Bureau one month after the scheme was rolled out and two days after the LG had posed reservations upon the scheme. So his complaint is, what in legal parlance known as ‘time barred’.
To counter the statements made by Mr.Gopal Rai, firstly we can say that it is only for his party and his leader to make unsubstantiated claims against leaders across political spectrum and accuse them of corruption for all their acts in past, present and future. They have a habit of labelling people without any cogent reason, and when it comes down to judicial scrutiny, they have a track record of failing the test. So, as it is a very fresh matter which might be brought before a court of law, it is not at all barred from being discussed in the public sphere and a complaint after one month is not a defence point. Only the AAP have the resources to raise accusations on the very beginning of some event or scheme.
Secondly, the removal of Ms. Alka Lamba from the post of Party’s Rudaali or Spokesperson after her mis-statement that Mr. Gopal Rai has been relieved of his Transport portfolio shows the level of autocratic attitude prevalent in the party. Ms. Lamba, who has been a former NSUI leader and the President of the Delhi University Student Union, has shown the traits of a cunning politician by defecting into AAP from Congress when the tides were against her parent party. She also had been a part of NSUI campaigns in the Student Union elections of University of Allahabad while she was the incumbent President of DUSU. But later her affiliations changed and she started riding the magical broom which was meant to clean all the cobwebs of corruption in the country. But she has been in the news for all the wrong reasons since long, the recent one being her appointment as an ‘Intern’ on the post of Parliamentary Secretary and her lavish lifestyle. So the rebuke she has faced after what can be called a slip of tongue raises questions as to why the party leadership has shown such hypersensitivity in this matter.
So we can say that the ACB is adopting a vindictive approach against the Delhi Government upon the orders of PM Modi Sahab and LG Jung Sahab is a mere puppet at the hands of the Central government who is hell bent upon destroying the effective control and management of Kejriwal government and has been a hindrance in the progress of Delhi and also the ministers of Delhi government. But till the time these statements are not corroborated with credible evidence by Mr. Kejriwal and his team, we would like him to tone down his theatrics and let the due process of law decide upon the fate of his minister Mr. Gopal Rai and also the other 21 MLAs who are hanging in balance for the extra piece of pie they have taken and played innocent in front of their guardian.