Kejriwal unsure about poll strategy
Arvind Kejriwal carries a monumental chip on his shoulders. It was revealed when Navjot Singh Sidhu appeared on the scene. Sidhu wanted to be the Aam Admi Party’s (AAP) candidate for the Punjab chief minister’s post. But Kejriwal was unwilling to commit himself. The reason was that if Sidhu, or someone else, became the chief minister in the (unlikely) event of the AAP winning the polls, that person would become the chief minister of a full-fledged state while Kejriwal himself would remain a notch down the pecking order as the CM of a mere Union Territory.
This was a humiliation which Kejriwal could not accept. There was speculation, therefore, for a while that the Delhi chief minister wanted to project himself as the chief minister of Punjab. But the trouble was that he is not a Sikh. Although Punjab has had Hindu chief ministers like Bhim Sen Sachar, Gopi Chand Bhargava and Ram Kishan, the rise of the Akalis in recent years has made it almost mandatory for the state to have a Sikh CM.
It is possible that the haste with which Kejriwal evicted Yogendra Yadav (and Prashant Bhushan) from the party was because of the apprehension that if the AAP won in Haryana in the next election, Yadav would be the first choice as the chief minister, thereby making an “ordinary” party member take up a post carrying greater weight and prestige than that of the Delhi CM. It is unlikely that Sidhu considered these factors when he left the BJP. Kejriwal, too, has never dwelt in public on this aspect because it will be too embarrassing for him to do so. But the stark fact is that Kejriwal remains the main obstacle for anyone trying to climb up the greasy pole in his party.
True, as the leader of a one-man outfit, Kejriwal represents a common trend in Indian politics, for virtually all parties are beholden to one person for success. Among them are the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, DMK and AIADMK, Biju Janata Dal, Telugu Desam, et al. Even the BJP can be included in this category, for its dependence on Narendra Modi is obvious. But Kejriwal’s case is somewhat different. All the other parties, and especially the BJP and the Congress, are large organisations with a long history.
Even if they look to one person for inspiration, there is little doubt that they have a reservoir of political talent, even if in the back rooms, on which they can depend if there is need. This is exactly what happened when Modi floated to the top as other contenders for the PM’s post like L.K. Advani failed the test of approval by the rank and file.
Where Kejriwal is concerned, he can be said to have built the party by himself, brick by brick. He was also lucky in that the Congress’s record of corruption gave him an opportunity to snatch the relay runner’s baton from the hands of the first sprinter, Anna Hazare, and race past the winning post. But, withstanding his success, Kejriwal has remained an insecure person as the expulsions of Yadav and Prashant Bhushan showed. He is also seemingly immature. This was among the reasons why he was apparently overwhelmed by the aura of the chief minister’s position when he first sat on the throne. The kind of authority which he had never experienced before made him tilt at the windmills of the Union government for 49 days before he gave up.
Now, he has become more relaxed. But the fear of being upstaged by someone still remains. Hence, the kerfuffle about Sidhu till he walked out. In a way, Kejriwal’s fears were justified, for Sidhu is an unpredictable character. He deserted the Indian cricket team during a tour of England in 1996 because he could not get along with the captain, Mohammed Azharuddin. He also could not get along with a fellow car owner in a parking lot, which is why he features in legal textbooks on culpable homicide.
Sidhu could not get along with fellow cricket commentators during Test matches and other international encounters, which is why he no longer commentates with the crème de la crème of the commentators except in the Indian Premier League. In the aftermath of these incidents, he has been known for some time for his incessant laughter during a comedy show. His walking out of the BJP was entirely in character. He was apparently miffed when Arun Jaitley was asked to contest by the BJP from Amritsar, which used to be Sidhu’s seat.
In view of Kejriwal’s reluctance to accommodate Sidhu, the Congress was said to have briefly considered inviting him to join the party. But, although the 131-year-party is somewhat more surefooted than the fledgling AAP, there is every possibility of feathers being ruffled in Punjab if the voluble former M.P. and former cricketer walked into the Congress parlour. It is best, therefore, to leave Sidhu to his own devises such as announcing the formation of his own party and then changing his mind.