Arvind Kejriwal’s wife is kicking up a Twitter storm, but no one knows why

File photo of Sunita Kejriwal and Arvind Kejriwal | Facebook

AAP leaders remain tight-lipped about the possibility of Sunita Kejriwal’s political debut, saying her sudden aggression against the NDA government on social media has left them perplexed as well.

New Delhi: Long a quiet companion on the political journey of her husband, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Sunita Kejriwal has kicked off buzz about her own plans with a sudden Twitter spree targeting rivals.

Tweeting from the handle @KejriwalSunita, an account yet to be verified, Delhi’s first lady follows only 184 people, including prominent personalities such as PM Narendra Modi, former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, former IPS officer and Puducherry lieutenant governor Kiran Bedi, and former US President Barack Obama.

Her 16,100 followers include her husband, the members of the Delhi cabinet and senior leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Sunita set up her Twitter account in 2013, but became an active user only last year.

Sunita, a former civil servant like her husband, resigned as an Indian Revenue Service officer in June 2016. AAP leaders, however, remain tight-lipped about the possibility of her political debut, saying her sudden aggression against the NDA government on social media has left them perplexed as well.

“The party constitution doesn’t allow two members of the same family to get tickets and occupy posts. But who knows what will happen in the future?” a party source told ThePrint.

Tweet attacks

After the CBI raided the house of Delhi cabinet minister Satyendar Jain last week, Sunita posted a tweet saying it was vendetta, adding that the agency was driven by a “scolding” from their “masters” for closing an earlier case involving his daughter.

The case, pertaining to the appointment of Jain’s daughter as an adviser to the state government, was referred to the CBI by former lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung, who had alleged nepotism and favouritism.

Respected @LtGovDelhi ,you may be aware that the former LG is suffering from severe illness and he regretted what he did with AAP govt. Harassing my widow sister besides the constant harassment of AAP govt. is inhuman. It is said that ‘karma’ never leaves its ‘karta’. Regards.

— Sunita Kejriwal (@KejriwalSunita) May 17, 2018

In another tweet, posted on 17 May, she sought to warn lieutenant governor Anil Baijal on his thorny relationship with the state government, citing his predecessor Jung’s “severe illness” as “karma”.

The state government and the lieutenant governor’s office have found themselves in frequent faceoffs since the AAP government stormed to power in Delhi three years ago with 67 of the city’s 70 assembly seats. It has been an opposition allegation — one with precedent in previous administrations, too — that the Centre uses the L-G’s office to play spoiler in states governed by rivals.

आकाओ ने डाँट लगाई होगी कि बेटी का केस बंद क्यों किया अब चलो कुछ करो । Height of vandetta. https://t.co/mJrr1Mpu1u

— Sunita Kejriwal (@KejriwalSunita) May 30, 2018

Sunita’s allegation of harassment against Baijal refers to the arrest, days before, of her sister’s son Vinay Bansal, a contractor, over an alleged bid to defraud the public works department. Bansal’s father, also a contractor, died last year. The arrest was made by the Delhi anti-corruption branch. The alleged use of Delhi Police, which falls under the Centre’s jurisdiction, and the anti-corruption branch to “harass” members, again, has been a frequent line of attack with the AAP.

In May last year, Sunita had a Twitter fight with estranged party leader and MLA Kapil Mishra, who, in a series of tweets, had accused her husband of several wrongdoings, including corruption and the mismanagement of the party fund. Those tweets are no longer available on her Twitter timeline.

A gradual shift

Her recent hard-hitting avatar marks a big shift for Sunita, who has so far stood by her husband, albeit without an overt show of support for him.

She was rarely seen at Kejriwal’s public appearances — his oath-taking ceremony as chief minister being one of the few exceptions — until last year’s Punjab assembly elections saw her emerge as an active participant in the campaign, with the former bureaucrat also turning up at road shows. At the time, too, the party had dismissed talk of her political leap.