Arvind Kejriwal accepted the bribe of Rs 2 crore from Satyendra Jain in front of me,” alleged former Delhi cabinet minister Kapil Mishra, who was once a rising star inside Aam Aadmi Party and considered close to Kejriwal. Needless to say, the political temperature of Delhi has failed to subside since then.
As far as the merit of the allegation is concerned, it was a tad difficult for anyone to accept this allegation. So much so that Yogendra Yadav, Kejriwal’s friend-turnedfoe, also went on record to express his scepticism in as many words. It is important to remember here that Yadav was once physically manhandled by people on the direction of Kejriwal and aides, and they no more share cordial relationship. However, such allegations take a life of their own, and in no time this became the hottest topic in town. The matter was further complicated by the fact that a cabinet minister was alleging that another cabinet minister offered bribe to the chief minister. However, having said that this is also true that the allegation was levelled against a man who is widely considered to be personally incorruptible. This indicates towards conspiracies and intrigues.
Mishra was in charge of the saMe water resources Ministry, which was genesis of Most of the corruption charges against sheila Dikshit
That self-image is the most important capital for a politician is a fact no one knows better than Kejriwal. In his short career as a politician, and as a social activist before that, Kejriwal has attacked the integrity and image of politicians to such an extent that even heavyweights like Nitin Gadkari and Sheila Dikshit were rattled to the core. When Gadkari was BJP chief, Arvind Kejriwal took aim at him via his aide Anjali Damania and pushed the former on the back foot to the extent where Narendra Modi saw the opportunity to emerge at the front. Gadkari later filed a defamation suit, which was later settled out of court between Kejriwal and Gadkari. Damania later also distanced herself from Kejriwal. However, the damage had already been done.
Similarly, in the case of Sheila Dikshit, he managed to convince the people of Delhi about her corruption on the basis of a thick, official-looking file that he used to carry everywhere. He also used to add in good measure that if he comes to power, Sheila Dikshit will be in jail “within a month”. Needless to say that she’s enjoying herself brushing aside the prospect of any real threat by Kejriwal.
If you carefully understand what Kejriwal did in the above mentioned instances, you’ll realise what Kapil Mishra is trying to achieve. Mishra was in charge of the same water resources ministry, which was genesis of most of the charges against Sheila Dikshit. The issue of water metres was at the helm of the debate. However, people have forgotten an incident that almost took Kapil’s job. The place was Rajghat. One fine morning in August 2015 Kapil reached Rajghat and took a pledge to uncover something that was not clear. He then started tweeting. He insinuated that there was clinching evidence against Sheila Dikshit in the “Water Tanker Scam”, and that he is going to offer evidence to Kejriwal, which will make it impossible for Sheila to face jail term. But one particular tweet was particularly interesting where Kapil feared that his crusade against Sheila could cost him his job. Since he was not very forthcoming, no one made anything out of it.
His prophesy was partially fulfilled. While he retained his place in the cabinet; the additional charge of law ministry was taken away from him. Insiders maintain that he would have lost more, but was saved by circumstances. The first reason was that law minister Jitendra Tomar had been sent to jail on the charge of fake degrees just a month or so ago. The party wanted to cut him some slack.
The other reason was that Kapil had made his bones as the capo regime of Kejriwal just a few months back when he not only led the signature campaign against Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, but had personally led the team that manhandled them and threw them out of the party quite literally. By doing so, many believe, he endeared himself to Kejriwal. Shanti Bhushan went on record to say that he got a place in the cabinet because of this unsavoury talent of his.
It begs the question that when he finally lost his job, what was it that prompted such an action.
Kapil on his part says, “I had told Kejriwal that I had enough evidences against Sheila Dikshit, and that I had given these evidences to the Anti-Corruption Bureau. The day I asked him about the progress in this case was the day I was asked to leave the ministry. I had told him that I was going to meet the officers of ACB soon. This triggered something.” This is a serious charge levelled by a cabinet minister against his chief minister.
This begs the question: Is Kapil saying the truth or he had an inkling of what was in store for him, and that all these were just protective moves to stop Kejriwal from doing what he had clearly made up his mind to do?
Insiders maintain that this is just the culmination of the internal strife of Aam Aadmi Party. Kapil is just a symptom of the disease here. Tomorrow it shall be Kumar Vishwas’s turn. The underlying reason is something else.
It is not hidden from anyone that several party leaders are frustrated by Kejriwal’s style of working. They are more frustrated by the clique that surrounds Kejriwal and had formed a sort of cordon around him. Party MLAs also crib that they are given assignments to carry out without any proper groundwork. Goa elections are one such example. Kejriwal told some journalists that he had done his own survey and was positive that the party will do exceptionally well in the state, and will go on to form the government there. The lure of becoming a national party had pushed Kejriwal to fight the nationwide 2014 elections. And this lure was what pushed him to contest in Goa. The decision was taken in haste and cadres were sent to Goa almost overnight. The cadres, after spending few days in the field, realised that the party had no base in the state. The feedback was sent to Delhi as well. However, the clique around Kejriwal took the help of journalists and convinced that they really had a chance in the state polls. The clique sent more MLAs to the state, including those who were more questioning types. The idea was to send the questioning types to Goa so that the process would remain smooth in Punjab where the party did really have the chance.
Kumar Vishwas insinuated towards the same mentality when he levelled charges after charges following the defeat in the MCD polls. Vishwas’s close aides and MLAs are in charge of southern states where the party has no base or prospect in the foreseeable future. Those MLAs who are not the old-timers have to first go through the clique to even approach Kejriwal. Vishwas only brought the simmering tension to the surface. The defeats in Punjab, Goa and MCD gave the arsenal and the opportunity to the opposition faction in the party to train their guns on Kejriwal. Possibility of a palace coup in the leadership of Kapil Mishra was seriously considered. Clandestine meetings started taking place for the very purpose. However, someone somewhere talked and Kejriwal became alert.
He first wooed back Vishwas, and then sacked Kapil Mishra. Kapil was caught off guard. He never believed for a second that he will be shown the door so soon. Apart from other things, Kapil had water resources ministry under him. Water crisis in summers is a big issue in Delhi. Kapil could have weaponised this scarcity to the detriment of the government. So Kejriwal acted in a Machiavellian manner and outsmarted him. He was also worried that Kapil might engineer defections and cross-voting in the coming Rajya Sabha polls in 2018. After all Kapil had already shown this talent in the case of the ouster of Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav. Therefore, by expelling Kapil, Kejriwal has given a strong signal to others of his intent. The palace coup has been averted for now.
The outsider interference is pretty obvious. BJP had read frustration and defeatism inside the party following the defeats in Punjab, Goa and MCD. Party leaders have no control on the administration. This is why they are unable to get work done, and thus they are rarely seen in the field. The middle class that propelled the party to power has gone back to its communal ways, choosing its first love, BJP. The Shunglu Committee Report also harmed party’s image to no end. It had its nuisance value. BJP had failed miserably in the MCD in the last 10 years. But it still won the elections. The vote was an anger-vote against AAP, not a mandate vote for BJP. BJP is trying its best to engineer a split, because crossing-over is impossible considering the mammoth number of MLAs. The rest could have been taken care of by the rather domesticated Lieutenant Governor.
Sources close to Kapil say that his mother, Annapurna Mishra, was offered the post of Lieutenant Governor had everything gone as planned. Madam Mishra is a BJP leader of some repute. Had Kapil engineered a split, BJP would have done everything in its possession to make him the chief minister. But that was not to be. Kapil is isolated now. But does this mean that things have subsided in the Aam Aadmi Party?
Far from it. The MLAs and cadres who are afraid of action are biding time and are waiting for CBI’s next move. A CBI enquiry is going on against Satyendra Jain. Party’s old cadres don’t particularly like Jain, for he is not very accessible, and does not like to mingle. Cadres also don’t understand why Kejriwal still sticks with Jain in spite of the CBI enquiry, when he had summarily dismissed another minister Asim Ahmad Khan on charges which were less serious in comparison. At this time it is impossible to predict if party cadres and MLAs will come to the party’s rescue if the CBI moves against Jain.
And this is not enough. As many as 21 AAP MLAs are facing “Office of Profit” enquiries. The verdict can come anytime now. This will create further ripples. This however be deferred till January when Rajya Sabha polls are scheduled.
In short, Kejriwal still has time to mend the party and its confidence. Otherwise years ahead are full of landmines and pitfalls. No one can be lucky all the time.
