In what exposes the pathetic condition of the Kejriwal led Delhi government, an RTI reply has revealed that 2017 recorded the highest number of complaints against the council of ministers including the chief minister. Since AAP came to power in Delhi in 2015, 24 complaints have been received against the council of ministers of which 11 have been received in 2017.
As compared to this, 34 complaints were received against the ministers in Sheila Dixit government from January 1, 2008, till the end of 2013. 2012 saw the highest number of such complaints-nine. The RTI reply also stated that in the last ten years, 47 of the 56 complaints against the ministers have been disposed of while 9 are still pending. A total of 156 complaints against MLAs have also been registered since 2008 of which 125 have been disposed of and 31 are pending or are under investigation. In the same period, 311 complaints were also filed against the officials but since the officials do not fall within the ambit of the Delhi Lokayukta and Uplokayukta Act, 1995, these complaints usually sent to the appropriate authorities.
This reply must have come as a shock for the AAP as it has exposed its true face. Before coming to power, Kejriwal led party had been constantly harping that it will set new standards in Indian politics and that it was a party with a difference. However, now it looks worse than the traditional parties. Who could have expected that a party which took birth out of an anti graft movement will have such high number or corruption complaints against it. Instead of bringing corruption free government to Delhi, it seems that the Delhi government has only made things worse for the people of Delhi.
In the run up to the Delhi assembly polls, the AAP had claimed that it was here to uproot corruption and unleash a new era as far as corruption free and clean governance was concerned. Since the Anna led anti-corruption movement had been managed by the likes of Sisodia and Kejriwal which later formed the AAP it also helped them in garnering votes during the Delhi elections. However, over the course of its tenure, the AAP government has totally forgotten its poll promise. In fact, anti corruption crusade is no longer its agenda. It can be said that the Kejriwal led party has lost its very essence in the process. AAP has ‘evolved’ rather quickly. Initially, it was a staunch anti corruption crusader, then, with time it toned down and finally forgot its anti corruption narrative and now it has the highest number of complaints against the ministers in a decade.
Even the Delhi chief minister Kejriwal has been accused of accepting a bribe of Rs. 2 crore from Delhi’s health minister Satyendra Jain. This shows that even the Delhi chief minister is untainted even though his name was later dropped from this case. This might just be the final nail in the coffin as far as AAP’s future prospects are concerned. It is amply clear that the AAP has nothing to show for itself as far as governance is concerned. In fact, its governance record is tainted with graft allegations at the highest level. With the AAP having lost its desire to fight corruption even at the level of council of ministers, the electorate will in all probability reject them mercilessly when it goes to polls in 2019 and later for the Assembly polls.