New Delhi, March 2 (IANS) Sometimes, it is useful to stay home and reflect on situations to find solutions to issues. Perhaps this is what AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal appears to be doing.
It’s been days since he was last seen or heard. He has largely remained absent from public view after his party’s crushing defeat in the Delhi Assembly elections. Kejriwal, who lost to BJP’s Parvesh Verma in the New Delhi Assembly seat, was last seen on February 23 at AAP’s legislative party meeting, where Atishi was named the Leader of Opposition in the House. He has also not posted much politically significant on his social media handles, including the X.
Interestingly, he has neither reacted nor posted on the happenings of the Delhi Assembly, where his lieutenant Atishi, the former Delhi CM, seems to be waging a lone leader’s fight. He has not said a word over the suspension of 21 AAP MLAs from the Delhi Assembly.
The only significant post made by Kejriwal was on the photo controversy, which Atishi tried to rake and make into a big issue. Reposting Atishi’s post on X on February 24, Kejriwal wrote in Hindi (loosely translated): “The new BJP government of Delhi removed Baba Saheb’s photo and put up the photo of Prime Minister Modi. This is not right. This has hurt millions of followers of Babasaheb…I have a request for the BJP. You can put the photo of the Prime Minister but do not remove the photo of Baba Saheb. Let his photo remain there.”
AAP’s efforts to make it a big issue have come to a cropper as the photo matter has not created any support for AAP. Atishi has been trying badly to hit the road on the issue, but, except for her 20 co-MLAS, not a single extra AAP worker or leader can be seen joining her protest in the streets.
She has even written a letter to the Speaker, objecting to the suspension of 21 MLAs and has tried to make the Assembly ruckus as AAP’s fight for Ambedkar.
“On 25 February 2025, during the address of the Lieutenant Governor, MLAs of the ruling party raised slogans of ‘Modi-Modi,’ while the opposition MLAs raised slogans of ‘Jai Bheem,’ respecting the views of Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar. It is very unfortunate that no action was taken against any MLA of the ruling party, but 21 MLAs of the opposition were suspended from the House for three days for raising the slogan ‘Jai Bheem,'” she wrote.
While Atishi has been trying to keep AAP ‘activism’ active in Delhi, Kejriwal has gone silent. It is not that Kejriwal has no involvement in whatever Atishi is doing, but the AAP chief seems to prefer to stay low and do jobs from the backroom.
Currently, in the national capital, only Atishi and Gopal Rai seem to be handling the Delhi affairs and the rest all seem to have just vanished after massive electoral defeats. Most of the rest of the AAP leaders seem to be busy with varied activities.
Former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has also not been visible in the capital or on social media. Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh has been busy with the Haryana municipal polls. Former Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj is active mostly on X.
Kejriwal is said to be busy keeping his flock together in Punjab, where internal rifts are being reported. It is also said that he is seeking entry to Parliament through the Rajya Sabha route in order to keep his political scales up despite crushing defeat in Delhi.
While he may or may not gain entry to the Upper House, his deeds of previous years are getting exposed in the Delhi Assembly.
It was quite expected for the ruling BJP to go aggressive with the 14 CAG reports that the previous AAP government in Delhi had hidden for fear of exposure. Some of them were presented to the L-G four years ago, but the then-Kejriwal government kept them under the carpet. The reports are now being tabled one by one, exposing the AAP underbelly. It was known that things were not right on the ground under the Kejriwal-led government, but the extent is now being exposed.
As per the CAG reports, everything seems to be wrong with the AAP dispensation in Delhi. These reports, including performance audits on several issues such as the cost of renovating former CM Arvind Kejriwal’s residence, liquor supply in Delhi, prevention and mitigation of air pollution, functioning of the Delhi Transport Corporation, healthcare and Mohalla Clinics, gravely reflect the then Kejriwal government’s working.
The coming days may not be good for Kejriwal and his party as action may ensue on the CAG reports. He was in jail for five months last year for his alleged role in the excise policy. After the CAG expose, his legal troubles may mount. Equally distressing for him could be his political troubles.
(Deepika Bhan can be contacted at deepika.b@ians.in)
–IANS
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