In the past three and half years since he has been Delhi CM, Kejriwal never wished Singh on his birthday. In 2012, he called Singh a ‘corrupt leader’.
New Delhi: Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal has, of late, come to discover many virtues in Dr Manmohan Singh, the former prime minister whom he slammed for not ordering inquiries against “his corrupt ministers” in 2012.
On 25 September when Dr Singh turned 86, Kejriwal greeted him in a tweet: “I wish a very happy 86th birthday to Dr Manmohan Singh, our former Prime Minister. A man of integrity, sobriety and humble nature. I pray for his long & healthy life.”
A few months back, in May, he had tweeted that people were “now missing an educated PM like Dr Manmohan Singh”. “It’s dawning on people now. PM to padha likha hi hona chahiye (PM should be educated),” he said, in an apparent dig at Singh’s successor, Narendra Modi, whose educational qualification has virtually been made a matter of public debate by opposition parties.
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So, what’s behind this change of heart in Kejriwal? He may not have apologised to Singh for all his allegations in the past — as he did in case of many other politicians — but his effusive praise for the former prime minister has made people sit up in amazement.
In the past three and half years since he has been the chief minister of Delhi, Kejriwal never wished Singh on his birthday. Not only this, in this year’s wish, he called Singh “a man of integrity”. It is unusual since there have been numerous instances in the past when he called Singh a corrupt leader.
In June 2012, while on a visit to Gujarat, he called Singh, then PM, a corrupt leader as he was “not ready to order an enquiry against their corrupt ministers”.
In a public rally in Rewari in July 2012, he again levelled corruption charges against Singh. He had said, “While 15 of the 34 union ministers are deeply involved in corruption, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too is not completely untainted.”
He again mocked Singh in October 2013 by tweeting, “A corrupt Congress made Manmohan Singh its face at Centre. Manmohan failed to check corruption within congress and his own Govt.”
In February 2015, when the BJP declared Kiran Bedi its chief ministerial candidate in Delhi, Kejriwal mocked her, by calling her Dr Manmohan Singh of the BJP.
It is not unusual for Kejriwal to show a change of heart based on his political expediency. In January 2014, in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, he came up with a list of corrupt politicians. Eventually he apologised to most of them in writing.
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As it is, the Delhi chief minister is desperate to mend fences with the Congress, the party he had played a role in unseating from power. With the AAP’s national ambitions having taken a big hit following a series of electoral reverses, he now wants to play a national role by being part of an anti-BJP grouping.
But the Congress’ wounds haven’t healed yet. As it is, the Congress seems willing to sacrifice the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi — by splitting the anti-BJP votes — but wouldn’t shake hands with Kejriwal. That explains why the chief minister has started finding virtues in the former prime minister.