Arvind Kejriwal messed it up

[vicky sen]

Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP have had an extremely stormy reign in Delhi that fell short of a half-century in terms of days that they ruled.

But there are some things in which they have gone horribly wrong…

1. Ensuring Delhi Police will always be with the Centre

The Delhi Chief Minister is probably the weakest CM in the country in terms of powers. Delhi Police has always been a sticking point and the Central government has been unwilling to let it go from its hands.

However with the increasing crime situation in Delhi, public opinion has been steadily in favour of the Delhi Police coming under the Delhi CM. But with the dharna, anarchy, vigilantism and the ugly sight of the Delhi CM and Delhi Police fighting with each other, now no Centre will ever let go of the Delhi Police.

Any Central government will be scared of a UP goonda raj, Bihar jungle raj or AAP anarchy like situation happening in Delhi. They will now never trust the security of the seat of their government in anyone else’s hands and make sure that the Delhi Police will always stay with them.



2. Destroying the power situation in the long run

The power situation in India is very tricky. About one-third of India lives in darkness and the power cuts the rest face are many. There is rampant power theft and mismanagement. Power reforms are very tricky and some States have done a great job while others have perished.

Kejriwal instead of initiating much needed power reforms just gave out freebies, waived off defaulters’ bills and threatened power companies. Power reforms have been set back in Delhi.

3. Kicking governance out of Delhi

Sheila Dixit seems like a saint as compared to Kejriwal when it comes to governance. Kejriwal’s rule has just consisted of a dharna, dramas, night raids, TV press conferences, allegations and confrontations.

There was no governance and if we have no government for a few more months followed by another hung Assembly then god only knows what happens to governance in Delhi. Just look at States like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar…

A long period of good governance can be undone in virtually no time. 2014 is going to be an extremely crucial year for Delhi. If you think the crime scene is bad in Delhi, it still can get worse.

4. Holding the city to ransom over a vigilante

The JP movement in the 1970s led to an alternative at the Centre and in many States. The Mandal Commission agitation in the 1980s led to reservation for the OBCs. The freedom movement itself was anarchist in nature for the ruling British.

Had Kejriwal done a dharna to end police brutality or to initiate police reforms or to take control of them with a slew of good ideas, history would have forgiven him. Somnath Bharti has been accused of being a spammer and been pulled up by a court in the past.

He was seen on TV leading a vigilante mob that was racist and misogynist in nature. Kejriwal held a dharna and held the city to ransom to save such a man?

5. Taking the support of the Congress

It is amazing how the AAP keeps shouting from rooftops that the Congress and BJP are the same and are hand in glove.

Every Prime Minister in India has been a Congressman or an ex-Congressman. The only exception is AB Vajpayee of the BJP.

Almost every government has been backed by the Congress or bailed out the Congress from time to time or been in a coalition with the Congress. The only exception is the BJP.

The BJP has many sins and may have been ineffective in handling the Congress in the last 10 years but that’s about it.

The AAP government was born with the support of the Congress and hence can’t claim the moral high ground on that particular issue in which the BJP is the only party with a difference.

Kejriwal had sworn on his children’s head that he wouldn’t take the support of Congress and he did exactly that. In this particular point AAP is like any other party in India which can’t shun the Congress.

6. Telling the citizens that rules aren't important

Cut your power lines. Don’t pay your bills. You don’t need a search warrant to search a woman’s premise in the night. Autowallahs don’t have to install GPS or bother about other rules. The Republic Day may be held to ransom. The Delhi CM may clash with the Delhi Police…

At each and every stage Kejriwal has told us that rules are not important. India does have a few bad laws but most of them not being followed forms the major part of the problem. So we are being told to simply disregard the rules of the law while being told more laws (Jan Lokpal Bill) will help. What a contradiction!

7. Coming across as arrogant and stubborn as any other party

BJP leaders looked arrogant during the NDA regime. Congress leaders surpassed them defending the endless scams of UPA2. But now AAP leaders, led by Kejriwal, are proving much worse.

They are arrogant, stubborn and peddle the same lies and same lame excuses like any other party.

For a change both BJP and Congress spokespersons are looking good in TV panel debates in the face of the misplaced belligerence and sheer nonsense of AAP spokespersons. They are taking a cue from Kejriwal, who has shown his arrogant avatar as CM.

The AAP leaders set out to be totally different from the common politicians they despised so much—but in many respects they have ended up being much worse than them!

 

[rubyjackass]

1) Why should Centre want to keep Delhi Police under its control more now? If they give control to Delhi government, there would not be any problem of Delhi CM protesting against his own men. He would simply give them directives instead.
2) The power cost in Delhi and Mumbai is inflated. Ask anybody who lived in these cities and elsewhere. The reasons could be many. All power companies should be audited to find out if there is any foul play. What is the use of power sector reforms without accountability of producers? And why are you not calling this accountability as 'reform'?
3) There is no state where we saw more 'governance' in 49 days as we saw in Delhi. If you want to focus on the masala part of news conferences and confrontations then God help you.
4) There was an official apology for Somanath Bharti's remarks and his attitude. He has been careful since. We have seen many who do not even accept responsibility. We have seen only ministers who will go to the police to get 'their people' released. A procedural mistake by Bharti is tolerable.
5) Taking the support of Congress?! Congress itself came forward to support AAP unconditionally. After BJP accused them of not taking responsibility. Your BS about BJP and Congress never colluding is laughable. The alliance of corruption in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh is between Congress and BJP. One example is Yeddy -> Reddy brothers -> Jagan. Both the parties backed their respective corrupt coteries until things became unbearable for them. Their administrations colluded and/or closed their eyes to the swindling of thousands of crores of public wealth.
6) This is a meaningless allegation. AAP has already postured itself as a Left Centre party. When the self proclaimed right and centre parties themselves forgive crores of loans, the small AAP measure is being shown as encouragement of not following rules. There is no rule saying a CM cannot protest. Especially in Delhi where police is not under his control. Somanath Bharti already apologized for the raid procedure. Don't BS about the autorickshaw GPS without knowing what you are talking about. AAP brought about permanent measures to stabilize auto-rickshaw fares which made sure drivers don't buy new stuff just because there was a stupid rule. This encourages drivers to follow exact fare rules like in Mumbai.
BJP and Congress are only good at making up BS rules to block legislation. And when they are entrenched at power positions like the Centre, they obviously will want these loopholes to stay. They want a loophole to introduce Telangana in Parliament despite Assembly rejection. They want a loophole to allow a non-elected Governor to dictate to State Assembly what they should and what they should not discuss.

7) AAP are the most humble people when it comes to talking to people and the people know it. AAP has to be stubborn to deal with the entrenched establishment parties. They will keep opposing AAP for the sake of opposing in the name of baseless 'rules'. The Lt Gov showed his real face by not recommending the dissolution of the Delhi Assembly despite the current Cabinet recommending so. Why does a Governor recommend President's Rule when there is no crisis in the state, when there is a clear possibility of a better verdict(for BJP or AAP to form government)?

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

2) The power cost in Delhi and Mumbai is inflated. Ask anybody who lived in these cities and elsewhere. The reasons could be many. All power companies should be audited to find out if there is any foul play. What is the use of power sector reforms without accountability of producers? And why are you not calling this accountability as 'reform'?

Is the solution to say that all of Kajrewal's supporters don't have to pay their bills?

 

[rubyjackass]

Is the solution to say that all of Kajrewal's supporters don't have to pay their bills?

That was a stupid move. It will eat into AAP's votes this time.