In trying to be the better ‘Hindu politician’, which the Aam Admi Party convener perhaps thought was a masterstroke, Arvind Kejriwal has been cut to pieces through the new GNCTD Bill, politically. The BJP has hit AAP on its Achilles heel. The Delhi government is rendered useless even though Kejriwal had elevated it to an ideal model of governance by calling it “the Delhi model”. Evidently, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, only the “Gujarat model” can exist.
Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Admi Party appear incorrigible. Call them self-absorbed or simply blind, but they seem to understand that only what they think is brilliant, while everyone else is an idiot.
As political observers, many of us had commented in the past on Kejriwal treading a slippery slope when he started flirting with Hindutva to launch himself nationally. He’s clearly setting himself up as a viable political alternative to Narendra Modi. And truth be told, Kejriwal is clearly a winning alternative. But his sudden change of personality, of trying to go down the Hindutva road, instead of sticking to the good-governance plank, has been, perhaps, the single-biggest mistake of his political career.
In my article two weeks ago, after Kejriwal announced the “deshbhakti budget”, I had said that the Delhi CM will inevitably end up being the loser if he tries playing the same game as Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath, because the latter are heavyweights in this category. And so it has come to pass.
Also read: AAP govt cut to size but Delhi can progress with a revamped, empowered municipal corporation
The ‘aam admi’ was working for Kejriwal
If pattern in politics is anything to go by, Kejriwal was left pretty much untouched by the BJP whenever he attacked Modi and the party with his verbose, acerbic comments. The Delhi CM sounded like an ‘aam admi’ or common man, who didn’t use political jargon, making his criticism of the PM very effective. And the BJP couldn’t do much about it because then, any frontal attack on Kejriwal would have made its political vendetta obvious. The message that would have gone out would have been of an all-powerful Modi troubling an ‘aam admi’ who had the guts to speak against him.
Also read: Govt insecure as Kejriwal emerging as alternative to Modi: Sisodia criticising GNCTD bill
The Hindutva tilt
But after Modi came back to power in 2019, Kejriwal changed his tack. The Delhi CM went with a bouquet of flowers to greet the PM on his return; went soft on Amit Shah and let him take charge of the Covid situation when the national capital was reeling under high caseload. In the run up to the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Kejriwal had appealed not to bring back the BJP to power — “what would happen to the country with a Home Minister like Amit Shah,” the Delhi CM had warned.
Of course, the bouquet of flowers and co-operative federalism seems all statesmanlike, and should ideally be encouraged in a democratic set up. But we don’t live in the times of statesmanship. We are living in the times of cut-throat politics where backstabbing and horse trading are the norms. And Kejriwal, in his attempt to appease the centre, has ended up giving the BJP an upper-hand.
The GNCTD Bill has, effectively, rendered the Delhi government toothless because it clearly states that any reference to “government” in Delhi shall mean the “lieutenant governor”. The tug of war between the L-G and Delhi government is nothing new. But the 2018 Supreme Court verdict had put an end to this tussle, and broadly in favour of the Delhi government. The Supreme Court had clearly told the Delhi government that it did not need to consult the L-G of Delhi on day-to-day matters. The GNCTD Bill makes the Supreme Court verdict null and void, which is why many in the Opposition are calling it unconstitutional. The centre has ensured that the elected government of Delhi cannot govern the city-state because no matter which policies or laws it introduces, they cannot come into effect without the L-G’s permission. So, practically, it is the LG who is now in power in Delhi.
There’s no denying that this Bill is undemocratic in letter and spirit because the constitutional head, who sits above the elected government, now enjoys more power. But Arvind Kejriwal can’t blame anyone else. He set himself up for this. He didn’t learn from West Bengal.
Also read: ‘Insult to people of Delhi’ — Arvind Kejriwal on passage of bill to extend power of L-G
The lesson not learnt
The Modi government tried very hard in West Bengal to have a central agency call the shots during the investigation of the Saradha chit fund scam. But Mamata Banerjee didn’t shy away from protecting the Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar. And she didn’t end her obvious displeasure with the centre, even after Modi’s come back in 2019.
Although Mamata Banerjee’s verbal attacks on Modi came down, her opposition to his politics — of using religion as a means to power — remained steadfast. She did not dilute her ideology or politics to win over the BJP voters, or retain her own voters who could possibly swing towards the BJP. She has stuck to the development plank and is hoping her welfare schemes make her win big.
Flirting with nationalism and Hindutva hasn’t benefited Kejriwal, and it’s a lesson for the Opposition — to not ape the BJP.
The author is a political observer and writer. Views are personal.
Edited by Anurag Chaubey
Garbage journalism and shit journalist. Flirting with minority has obviously benefitted opposition.
More stinky article than Ghazipur dump
And some body’s Dar Ul Islam dream look shattered
Lol
This is totally a paid news
Wow. What a garbage article. I rarely ever comment, but this one deserves my scorn. Majority appeasement, something no one did in India till Modi came, is bad, but Minority Appeasement, especially of Muslims and Christians is okay and fine. And Kejriwal is the clear winning alternative to Modi? Man, she must have been high while writing such crap, far removed from reality. Still, no hate. You keep pumping such trash, while Yogi becomes the Prime Minister after Modi. Also, I’m def sure that the BJP will make a huge dent in the Bengal Assembly elections, if not make a complete majority gov., and your kaamwaali leader (Mamta, who has the personality of a maid) will roam around in a wheelchair, shouting and heckling like a maniac.
I think the author is pro bjp
I disagree with you writer. Kejriwal and AAP achieved what they aimed for by appeasing majority religion. Its the BJP led Central govt which took a back door entry to clip the wings of the elected govt.
Nonsense Mr Satish Chandra !
For all his faults, initially Kejriwal won by appealing to what the voter wants most of all clean government – not rotten Hindutva politics. That Kejriwal himself seems to have flirted with Hindutva later is an entirely different matter. But the fact remains that the BJP is not only as corrupt as any other Indian party, it is also violent. Sikhs, Muslims, Christians and South Indians in Delhi see the BJP in a different light than you itchy-testicled BIMARU “intellectuals”.
Totally removed from reality. I think it’s authors like this guy who advise our opposition leaders these days, because of which we have a horribly weak opposition. Only AAP has been able to defeat BJP till now, and comprehensively. The Soft Hindutva+Development image of AAP is what led it to sweep Delhi elections twice. I am sure despite what the author says here, TMC won’t be able to govern WB for full 5 yrs, even if they manage to win elections.
The Modi-Shah juggernaut will somehow ensure we have a BJP government in WB, if not now then in the next 2-3 yrs. Only AAP can stop BJP, no one else.
Is this author as Dumbo as she looks or was there an injury along the way. Her Islamic bias is apparent even before she penned the first word of her what she thinks is an “article”. It’s fine if Mamata does brazen shameless Muslim appeasement but its communal about BJP using ” religion” card. What a masterpiece.
the author is a Modi hater Jihadi and you Sekhar Gupta is matharhater mathar#od.
Stop this Religious accusations on the PM without any reason whatsoever.
Didn’t the PM engineer a pogrom when he was CM ? Wasn’t he banned from entering the US and much of Western Europe ?
Kejriwal has made Delhi a slum by distributing freebies. Delhi has become a den of illegal activities, all the criminals are now fleeing UP and congregating in Delhi and Gurgaon.
Any substantive data to back up your gomutra beer fuelled rant Percussionist ?
OK that is WHY Sunni Muslims also stayed in India after voting for & creating Pakistan!! It was to drink Gomutra! OK!! This is CLEAR!!
So writer just said Kejriwal was attacking BJP like an Aaam Admi, but didn’t comment on the merit of those attacks.
For the writer Minority Appeasement is not the politics of religion only majority is.
Talks about Mamata Banarjee’s development agenda and welfare schemes in same breath but didn’t provide any substantial data to validate the actual effectiveness of both.
This is not an article but a glorified rant!
Zainab, the author of this article, pretends to be a secularist but all her articles betray her intentions and so easy to see through her hatred for Modi, hatred for RSS, hatred for anything and anyone who stands up for the FAIR RIGHTS of Hindus and asks for end to UNFAIR APPEASEMENT of Muslism. Her HINDUPHOBIA is so blatant that she tries to link everything with Hindus and ALWAYS tries to directly and indirectly ISLAMIC SUPREMACY AGENDA, She is just another secular Bhed ki khaal mei REAL POLITICAL ISLAMIC Misinformation Jihadist underneath. Shame on Shekhar Gupta for breeding these snakes, he is begging to be investigated by ED and CBI, Shekhar shall I ask someone to unleash on you, SUDHAR JA.
India is the only country where the media makes a mockery of voters who say they voted for bjp but will admire Muslims when they say I will not vote for BJP. As long as the lutyen’s media like the print propagates antihindu writing bjp can be happy that 2024 is for them with Modi as PM for the 3rd time.
Honestly the only think I like about this article is the simple and clear language in which the subject of the article was written, apart from that the writer does not make sense about what message he wants to convey .
Kejriwal’s Desh Bhakti budget was bold and ambitious in its goals. Given his track record, if only he had more power, I truly believe that he could have taken Delhi forward towards that grand vision. His ‘Ram Rajya’ speech was inclusive and truly secular except for the nomenclature. It was the perfect antidote to the BJP’s hate mongering. The ten principles of ‘Delhi model’ outlined in that speech was akin to the biblical ten commandments of Moses, albeit, from the governance perspective.
Never read your newspapers again .
You guys are shame for India .
Central government sees that he is using his share of the central funds to give free bees and for governance and other development works he wants funding from the center… This is the only reason why his wings have been clipped… Also one question to the writer… How come a political party indulging in Muslim appeasement is termed secular..
If writer views are personal it shouldn’t be,printed and advertise on public domain..our own garbage we kept in home dustbin not on public roads.
I think it’s time for kejriwal to govern our nation instead of bjp. They promised many things but at the end of the day we got shattered economy, gst tax system has been a headache for businessmen, covid isn’t being handled properly ( the pm is saying to keep social distance and making rallies with immense crowd, such a hypocrite, all the basic commodities’ prices have went up, and innumerous issues which haven’t been even touched yet. It’s time to try aap, congress & bjp have shown their unwanted ideologies.
“what would happen to the country with a Home Minister like Amit Shah” said Arvind Kejriwal during 2019 lok sabha campaign. This the author mentions, but Kejriwal also said- that Modi will change the constitution of India so that BJP remains in power forever. Remember that!! Was that “statesman” like??
And then the author says “Of course, the bouquet of flowers and co-operative federalism seems all statesmanlike, and should ideally be encouraged in a democratic set up. But we don’t live in the times of statesmanship.” – ha ha ha … As if a bouquet of flower solves all problems. ??
“Mamata Banerjee’s …. opposition to BJP’s politics — of using religion as a means to power” where do these authors come from? Have they been living under a rock these past few decades? Which party is not using religion to come to power. Every “secular” party is among muslims to vote for them as a block and usually muslims are. Haven’t you heard the latest politician from TMC saying that with 30% muslims you can create 4 Pakistan’s…. This is anything but unbiased journalism!!
Summary – kejriwal should not be nationalist and cannot claim to be Hindu. He should continue Muslim appeasement. Didi with her corruption, violence, collusion with anti India forces is the leader kejriwal should follow. It does not matter disturbances in the name of farm bill or illegal occupation of parts of our country.
I disagree with the writer. Majority Appeasement worked for kejriwal. He faced opposition from the central govt run by bjp. Which took a back door entry to clip the wings of elected govt. It is clearly not the fault of Aap but its BJP which misused its power.
What a third rate article of a so called political observer cum lapdog of a Hindu hating gang which is well known to all. The articles implies that if Kejriwal plays the Hindutva card, which he is entitled to play, th3n he is a bad CM but still needs to be backed b3cause he is anti Modi. On the other hand the writer is silent on Mamata Didi playing pitics of appeasement, asking TMC workers to bury BJP member, beat them up, not to speak of murderous attacks on BJP ministers, central leaders, mysterious hangings of BJP candidates, members etc. If this is the politics that this thuggish writer sees as development politics then Bengal certainly needs an alternative, not minority appeasement and killings of Hindus. The people of Bengal should show that they wont elect a murderous govt. If Mamta isnt dislodged thia time Bengal should brace up for increased killing of Hindus and rise in peaceful fundamentalism
Congress has been SECULAR Hindu genocide-r in chief!! Led by communal Nehru & MK Gandhi, they created Terrorist-an & were responsible for butchering Hindus & taking away their legitimate property, religious & civilization-al rights!!
Mamata’s TMC & AAP tried to be Congress Bis but will ultimately fail if Hindus are vigilant!!
Meanwhile, The Hindu temples are still in govt. control while mosques & Churches are free!! This apartheid against Hindus was perpetuated by congress in so called independent India & by the so called courts of justice!!
Hindu Muslim divide is basically because of Sunni Muslims who have not changed despite Hindu sacrifices & unbelievable tolerance!! They voted for & stole Indian lands for Islam & made it a terror state!! Most of these Sunnis stayed in India perhaps to drink Gaumutra but did not go to the Islamic land of their dreams that they created!! WHY??
FAKE SECULARS But true Jihadis & communal anti Hindu parties like TMC/AAP/Congress need to be isolated for good along with the Islamo-leftists & their evil media!!
If Hindus have suffered enough of SECULAR genocide of their peoples & civilization, this is the time to throw Jihadis, anti Hindu & anti nationals under the bus!!
Brother do you know you sound like Arnab Goswami……Your approch in this is article is biased….you are supporting Modi without giving any reason and do you know why bjp govt brought GNTCD bill….to stop AAP from doing work that can become an example for other states and they have to implement it also unwillingly….
Print has got the answer ..one sided secular moroon
Yeah. We know Flirting with Islamists will definitely benefit. By allowing illegal immigrants to settle down and lure them to vote en masse like a herd of sheep
Wow!
Classic Zainab Sikandar writing.
A propaganda driven article with no content whatsoever.
Couldn’t justify the correlation between Hindutwa and Kejriwal till the end.
Nonsense article from Zainab.However its true that Arvind Kejriwal is the Best And Next Prospective PM of India soon after illiterate modi disapperance or death from politics.
BJP would have in any case clipped AK’s wings, Having been beaten handsomely twice, BJP under Mosha was always trying to stealthily hit back. Under foxy Mosha,, BJP is playing all kinds of dirty tricks to remain in power, not by its governance but by its election trickery. AK’s only chance to spread his wings in other States like Punjab is to keep focussing on governance. Or wait for BJP to be ousted from Centre. Delhi is lost for him. Let him be an Assistant of LG (in fact Mosha).
Perfect way of writing without saying anything or making any sense. No logic in any of the arguments or deductions. Thought the Print would do better homework.
Article in Nutshell – ‘Kejriwal shouldn’t have used Nationalism, Deshbhakt and Hinduism jargon in his policies because that has caused Modi to undemocratically reduce Delhi Govt to a Municipality”
As per the writer “Who ever go against BJP he will punished in the same manner”!! Wow Wow Wow , Is it a democratic country anymore? Where are we heading up to. Unconstitutional act, making a SC Judgement Null and void.. ? AAP will come to power in Punjab Uttrakhand Haryana and that qill be mouth shuttering reply to BJP.
The lesson for the opposition is – don’t rely on fake news (like data hua musalman, CAA, etc. ) to win seats, but focus on real issues (like sustainable development).
Article seems like a piece of agenda to threaten kejariwal to continue following appeasement policies
Well said sir. Islamic fundamentalists wants and stand only to those who appease these islamic fundamentalists as other opposition have done.. country is for all nit for one or two religion which isnt patriotic.
@UK T: Appeasement politics?? NO!! This is apartheid & future genocide against Hindus!!
After SECULAR MK Gandhi was killed for sponsoring Pakistan’s funding & killing of Hindus, SECULAR Congress operated one of the biggest genocide of Hindu Brahmins!!
Kejriwal continues with Congress’s policies while dumb Hindus fall for free electricity!! We will see what they do when Sunni Jihadis rape their daufghters & mothers just as in Kerala, Kashmir, Pakistan, Bangladesh…!!
The author is giving her verdict too early. Kejriwal has not fought any election yet playing the Hindu card.
Well, I fail to understand what is the correlation between hindutva politics and newly introduced bill. All I could understand from the article is BJP introduced the bill just because Kejriwal was playing hindutva politics? And may I ask why? Author is trying to mix up too many things together and make a cocktail.
When reality doesn’t match propaganda this what happens.
In the cesspool of corrupt opposition leaders Kejriwal has not had serious allegations against him, so he is now trying to project himself as the likely opponent at least on one count somewhere close to Modi.
His habit of taking “panga” with the center has cost him a lot of respectability under the new law which reduces him to a domestic help status. Hindu or no Hindu, he ensured the loss of dignity of the Future Delhi governments.
The hilarious bit in this essay is the part where the author pays homage to WB CM by stating that the CM stuck to her development plank. The tragic part which exposes the author’s bias is when she states that the CM stuck to her ideology come what may ! Ideology of what? of not allowing industrialization? or of minority appeasement ? or of alleged demographic engineering by allowing and sheltering illegal Bangladeshi migrants? or of allegedly encouraging political killings? or of violating federal structure. I understand that The Print wants evocative authors (the Fire in the Belly kind). But, would it not be better to encourage journalism which is factual and unlike what The Hindu or The Indian Express practice (this IE beats the Hindu when it comes to opposing for the sake of opposing – case in point: coverage of the Farm protests).
Turely said. Those who play appeasement is a secular for those who are fanatic
This article seems a completely biased one; it is fully anti-AAP. The author seems happy that the Delhi govt has been made toothless due to the GNCTD bill. As per her, the BJP govt at center passed GNCTD bill because Kejriwal passed the Deshbhakti bill. That’s not true. Because before GNCTD bill too Delhi govt has no power over Delhi Police. The central govt cannot act against Mamata govt in West Bengal because that’s a full-fledged state; whereas Delhi is not. The Print should stop giving space to this author; her pieces are nothing but political propaganda.
Flirting with Muslim appeasement did benefit Kejriwal and many other parties. Any authors to write such an article??
Muslim appeasement is a template which was copied from Congress to many parties but many presstitutes to remained silent
The author is silent what Islamic fundoos are doing all over the world and in our neighbourhood.
Mr Gopa: Why should the author be concerned about x, y and z happening in other parts of the world when the issue is in your own backyard? You are an educated man Mr Gopa – so stop behaving like an itchy-testicle BIMARU gaurakshak.
One doubts it will help the Congress either. If it wants Muslim votes, it should stand by the community, especially in times of stress.
Muslims must always be Muslims, and Hindus must be secular.
The time of old-style middle of the road politics is over – the Modi-Shah era of take-no-prisoners politics effectively ensures that. It forces people to take positions and defend them. Kejriwal’s style of waffling politics (where he wafts as per the wind’s direction) was okay during MMS time since he was basically a decent man and let Kejriwal be. Now Kejriwal (and AAP) has 4 options
1. Challenge the new law in the SC, hope for a quick hearing and pray that SC strikes it down.
2 Move on out of Delhi to another state like Punjab or Gujarat and try to win a “full state” than a partial one like Delhi and try a new model.
3. Go hammer and tongs at Modi-Shah at every given opportunity and join the opposition “alliance”.
4. Bide his time and wait for the sun to set on the Modi era. The Bdelloid rotifer can wait up to 250 mn years for conditions to change in its favour. Perhaps Kejriwal might like to take inspiration from this fact and wait his turn.
So, let me summarise this… first break the country and than shamelessly stay back… and once in sufficient number expect the people who have been wrong done with to bend backward to please you, else, call them fascist… if you so believe that we are all bhai bhai, why not start a campaign to reunite the country, will you do that?? Never right, you will have 100 of excuses.. face it.. you have been exposed.. jo humne tod ke le liya uski baat mat karo, jo tumhara hai usme se hissa do… wait till 2024..
AK and his aCUSE aBUSE pARTY as mentioned by Jihadi Begum is not serious about being a HINDU.
He provided biryani and mineral water to anti CAA PROTESTORS and manpower to RIOTERS.
His another anti HINDU agenda was trying to form government with help of khalistanis from around the world.
He is hurting HINDUISM and is a darling of proselytizers and ultra left wing radicals.
how these much khalistanis enter india lol. Seems like people from pakisthan china comes into india to do protest and leave india after that. seems like india doesnt have any border
Same way like Rohingya Sunni Muslims get settled in Jammu & Kashmir, you moron!!