Arvind Kejriwal is increasingly becoming like the boy who called wolf. Before he took over as the chief minister of Delhi, he was a serious anti-corruption and pro-transparency activist. But politics seems to have done something strange to him. He has become an expert in churning out conspiracy theories and crying foul at the drop of the hat. Everything is corrupt and sold out. The Police, the media, the Lieutenant governor and now the Election Commission. Every institution is corrupt and Kejriwal’s AAP alone has the moral high ground to call them out.
He took on the Prime Minister when demonetisation was announced. He cried foul play back then. His battle with former Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung has been the highlight of his tenure as the chief minister. His party had labeled the media sold out long back. And now the fight he has taken up is against Election Commission. Referring to the characters in Mahabharata, Kejriwal accused the Election Commission of acting like “Dhritarashtra” to help ‘Duryodhan’ BJP. By that accord, he is calling AAP the Pandavas. This level of name calling during MCD election is a new in Delhi’s politics.
However, what if Kejriwal won the elections? Just like Donald Trump had cried rigged elections before winning it, Kejriwal would be left with eggs on his face. And Kejriwal’s credibility would go for a toss. Calling wolf is not always a good idea. Seeing conspiracy in everything is a sign of paranoia and insecurity. And what if Kejriwal actually loses the elections. Will he call the people of Delhi corrupt and sold out? Targeting institutions is never a good idea. Election Commission works really hard to conduct free and fair elections. The only way democracies can function is by having faith in its institution. And you can’t be an anarchist when the same institution that you are targeted conducted the election that won you 67 of 70 seats in the Delhi Assembly.
