Congress upset with lieutenant governor for letting cornered Arvind Kejriwal off the hook
NEW DELHI: Lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung may be cornering credit for ending Arvind Kejriwal’s dharna but sections of Congress seem to be unhappy with him for providing what they call an escape route to the Delhi chief minister when he had his back to the wall and the Centre could have twisted the knife. Congress ranks feel Kejriwal was at his weakest during his latest mass protest, drawing criticism from people and press alike and without compensation in the form of crowds. His outbursts, use of “inelegant” language and making light of the Republic Day celebrations had all been seen as detrimental to his cause. After having been on a roll since he launched his agitation and then a breathtaking electoral debut, the plucky anti-graft crusader suddenly appeared to have boxed himself in with what was seen by many as a petulant protest.
However, just when he appeared to have been pinned down, the LG threw him a lifeline which a grateful Kejriwal grabbed with both hands, quickly going on to project as a triumph what was at best a face-saver. “We had him by his jugular when we allowed him to slip away. A good opportunity to corner him was lost because the matter was seen as a law and order issue rather than a political problem,” said a source in the Congress familiar with the sense of regret in the higher echelons of the party over what they called “political mishandling”.
On record, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala praised both the LG as well as home minister Sushilkumar Shinde for defusing the standoff with AAP with maturity and tact. Significantly, a statement issued later by AICC general secretary Ajay Maken contradicted reports that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi was unhappy with Shinde. That, however, didn’t leave people any wiser about Rahul’s views on the LG’s handling of the situation. The nuance was seen as important against the backdrop of speculation that the new Congress boss made no secret of his disappointment when he reviewed the developments of the day with his colleagues late on Tuesday evening.
Sources explained that the LG committed the mistake of seeing the flexibility of AAP, which drastically scaled down its demand, as a breakthrough, losing sight of the opportunity that had suddenly emerged to nail the agitators. Bereft of crowds and having to play a street protester and chief minister at once, Kejriwal climbed down from demanding handing over Delhi Police to Delhi government and settled for two police persons, one an SHO and another a sub-inspector with PCR, to be sent on leave. Congress sources said while the LG must have felt happy that he had managed to get the agitators off the road for the cheapest price, he failed to recognize that Kejriwal, given the dire straits he was in, was only too happy to sneak through the escape route.
