Faulty EVM row: It’s high time Arvind Kejriwal stopped acting like a crybaby

After being handed down a humiliating defeat in Punjab and Goa Polls, the Delhi chief minister is raising doubts over the credibility of the Electronic Voting Machines

By: Rakesh Jha |
March 15, 2017 7:35 pm

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has a knack for hurling allegations and crying foul whenever things don’t work his way. After being handed down a humiliating defeat in Punjab and Goa Polls, the Delhi chief minister is raising doubts over the credibility of the Electronic Voting Machines.

A day after writing to election commission to conduct Delhi civic polls with ballot papers, the AAP convener on Wednesday renewed his demand and alleged that faulty Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were responsible for party’s crushing defeat in Punjab elections.

Kejriwal is a maverick when it comes to grab eyeballs, he knows how to stay in news. After becoming a household name in 2011 Anna Andolan, Kejriwal showed his disinterest in political parties, however it only took him a couple of years to float his own party. He won Delhi on promises of exposing corruption ( to send Sheila Dikshit behind bars) and making Delhi a better place. However, none of these two happened. He swiftly removed all those who did not agree with him be it psephologist Yogendra Yadav or lawyer Prashant Bhushan.

Right from 2014 Lok Sabha elections when he quit Delhi CM’s post to contest against Narendra Modi in Varanasi despite knowing it’s a Hindu vote bastion, he had larger designs in mind. Given the fragmented opposition and leadership crisis in Congress, Kejriwal smartly pitched himself as an alternative to Modi. Since then Kejriwal has relentlessly targetted Narendra Modi even as he barely finds a mention by prime minister himself.

But one could not ignore the fact that Delhi chief minister himself was missing and devoting his entire time to Goa and Punjab elections. In Punjab, Kejriwal alone addressed close to 100 rallies across the state while his cabinet ministers toured extensively narrating the achievements of Delhi government in sectors like health and education but if we do a reality check things could be far different.

If one asks how the party failed to deliver on its election promises like wi-fi connection, building new schools, security to women, free water supply, most of the answers would range from obstacles created by home ministry to the conspiracy theories surrounding prime minister Narendra Modi.

For example- The AAP had promised to build 500 new schools in its election manifesto. In 2014-15, there were 1,007 schools run by the Delhi government. By the end of 2015-16, only four new schools were added.

Till January 2017, the government gave only three loans of Rs 3.15 lakh under its higher education and skill guarantee scheme, while incurring an expenditure of over Rs 30 lakh to advertise the scheme.

Even on health front the AAP has fallen far from expectations, Only 108 mohalla clinics have been opened against the target of 1,000.

So, Kejriwal should accept defeat graciously and focus on improving governance in Delhi. And he should not forget it was the same EVM that won him assembly elections in Delhi.