Modi and kejriwal

MODI AND KEJRIWAL

By Prem Chandran

In what appears to be a calculated move, Arvind Kejriwal has taken his fight right into the enemy camp, and to the centre stage. Stage today is where Modi is. As we write this, a street fight is progressing in Ahmedabad, Narendra Modi’s pocket borough -- a pitched battle involving BJP and AAP activists and Modi’s police thrown in between. A clear hint that the ‘hero’ of the anti-corruption campaign is reaching out to the rest of India from his base in and around capital New Delhi.

A question that arises at this point of time is why has Kejriwal chosen to target Modi, who is not known as being a corrupt leader? Instead, why did he not have a push against the epicenters of corruption in this country namely the Congress politicians and the rest of the UPA breed, but not excluding the other bandicoots spread over the other parts of the political spectrum? Modi is by no means the villain of the piece when it comes to the ongoing crusade against corruption. It is unlikely that Kejriwal, who took the Congress support to float a ministry in Delhi for a brief spell, is acting on the bidding from that party to take on its arch rival and the spearhead of the BJP in the coming General Elections. Rather, it is safe to assume there is a wider agenda, which could be to occupy the space right in front of Modi, and spread a message far and wide: that, here is someone who can fill the vacuum created by a curious situation in which the Congress party and its leadership are found wanting.

Without doubt, the common perception now is not only that the BJP will romp home to power in capital Delhi but also sweep the country’s most established political establishment, namely the Congress, yes, right under the carpet. If Congressmen are standing together today, it is simply because they are facing the worst challenge of their lifetime. Fears are not only that Modi and Co will floor them at the hustings, but also systematically finish the party, just as the way the wily Chief Minister did in Gujarat. He did it with not just the Congress party but with the rest of his detractors as well. That includes a heavyweight like Keshubhai Patel as well, who finally and voluntarily made an exit a fortnight ago into virtual oblivion. If Modi targets the Congress at the national level, will he leave the dynasty alone, the fulcrum around which the organization revolves, or will he target the dynasty and the hangers-on around it for generations, first and foremost? The answer is as clear as crystal.

On the other hand, the only hope left for Congressmen today is for a Modi to err, and so very seriously, so as to enable them fish in troubled waters and buy for themselves a fresh lease of life. A direct strike at the family will, per se, strike at the very root of the Congress establishment. This, at a time when, other than for the family, there is not a single individual who has a popular appeal or clout, leave aside aspects of integrity, in the Congress. Even St Antony has lost out, caught as he is between the serious problems relating to the Defence portfolio he held aloft for the longest ever term by a single individual, yet leaving it in a shambles.Cases not just of ineptness but also of corruption are plaguing it. The iteration of mishaps reported from the country’s warships cost the Navy chief his job, though he is widely reckoned to be an officer of great integrity.

None other than P Chidambaram was quick to use the opportunity to make it clear to one and all that finance was not a problem for the safe upkeep of defence equipment. Then, what went wrong? What other than the failure on the part of the powers-that-be to use those funds in the best possible ways! True, Chidambaram was targeting Antony, and in the crudest form. But, can we, as purveyors of truth, outrightly dismiss what Chidambaram had to say? Things clearly went wrong, and in perilously wrong ways. We are yet to know the how of it, and we might never know, too. This is not to say Antony took away the money; but this is also not to say no one made money out of the whole lot of defence ministry deals through the past many years, when it was overall a Corruption Raj in this country.

In an eventuality in which the Congress is down and out, who will fill the vacuum that is left for an Opposition – yes, in the likely event the BJP usurps power? It is here that Arvind Kejriwal does have an increasing relevance. If he or his Aam Aadmi Party has practically no organizational network passing through the length and breadth of the country, and in most states, what should come to his advantage other than strategies/gimmicks like this? Like what he did in Gujarat now, including also a drive upto the CM’s office, only to be stopped two km away by the police and the CM’s office saying the crusader’s plea for a meeting with Modi will be considered in due course. Say, in two or three days’ time. Should a former Delhi CM wait for three days on a street corner to get an audience with the ‘monarch’ of Gujarat?

In fact, when an arrogant Modi refused to serve a cup of tea to Kejriwal, the ‘anarchist’ got what he wanted. More publicity, more solidarity, and more space for his positioning against Modi.

But, did anyone expect of Modi to lay a red carpet for the likes of Kejriwal who have come sniffing around his backyard to publicize the filth that lay around? Had Modi welcomed him, we would have been surprised. Modi has his abrasiveness. It is reflected not just in his actions but also echoed in the tone of his “Bhayiyoon, Bahinoon” at his series of public rallies here and there. A far cry from the way Indira Gandhi used those words to mesmerize crowds across the length and breadth of a nation, where the large mass of the country’s poor lapped it up like nectar. They thought out of their foolishness that they were "brothers and sisters" to the Gandhis or Nehrus! Modi is street-smart, and his agenda too would match the tone of his “Bhayiyoon, Bahinoon.” If you haven’t noticed it, do watch out for it the next time he addresses a rally. That tone, however, is what Congressmen should now be wary about.

Confrontation is the way forward for Kejriwal, and rightly so. And, why waste time confronting a Congress party and its leaders who are already on the death bed? Let us credit Kejriwal with common sense, after all. And one suspects he carefully crafted this agenda for him and his party for the run-up to the General Elections. Why else would he have intertwined both the Congress and Modi in a well-woven web against a lethal target, Mukesh Ambani, at the final hour of his governance in Delhi Government. In doing so, he also brought back governmental corruption to centre-stage yet again, and in a smart flourish. How far Kejriwal takes his activism, or resort to anarchy, time alone can say. But, clearly, the more he fights, the more he would win. premcee@gmail.com; indiahereandnow.com