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Friday, March 29, 2024

CBI Dampens AAP Confidence

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is the soul and spirit of the Aam Aadmi Party, which recently achieved “national party” status, couldn’t care less right now for an electoral alliance with a party or parties for the 2024 general elections. Not the day after he was questioned by the CBI on the Delhi excise policy, which he said was a witch-hunt against AAP and its leaders, the SOP of the Modi government also alleging witch-hunt happens to be the SOP of all political parties accused of impropriety, corruption, etc.

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Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is the soul and spirit of the Aam Aadmi Party, which recently achieved “national party” status, couldn’t care less right now for an electoral alliance with a party or parties for the 2024 general elections. Not the day after he was questioned by the CBI on the Delhi excise policy, which he said was a witch-hunt against AAP and its leaders, the SOP of the Modi government also alleging witch-hunt happens to be the SOP of all political parties accused of impropriety, corruption, etc. Kejriwal was questioned for 9.5 hours on Sunday with his experience being overshadowed by Saturday night’s execution-style murders in police custody of gangster politicians Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf Ahmed. The television cameras were hardly bothered by what was happening to the AAP ‘Head’ so long as they had their fill of the dance of death played around Atiq/Ashraf, the tragic “ex-lawmakers” as the BBC and the NYT, and the Reuters labelled them.

The opposition has been continuously trying to come together to electorally castrate the BJP. But the Modi government has been allegedly misusing the central agencies to waylay the unification efforts of the opposition, pre-empting with what Kejriwal calls “witch-hunts”. Every time unity looked one step away, the CBI or the Enforcement Directorate stepped in. The latest manoeuvre on the AAP comes on the heels of the Prime Minister asking CBI officers to go all out against the “corrupt” and not be overawed by however big the personality happened to be. The problem is the CBI has finally got its teeth into the man, who if he “is a thief, then no one in this world is innocent.” The day the CBI’s Delhi excise policy investigations reached the Delhi CM’s door, that day the Modi government got its hooks into the AAP convener’s entrails.

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In case the CBI finds hard material to detain and arrest Kejriwal, the AAP would be truly orphaned. As said, Arvind Kejriwal is the soul and spirit of not only the Aam Aadmi Party but also of the AAP governments of Delhi and Punjab. Without Kejriwal to lead and guide, the governments of both Delhi and Punjab would go bust. And AAP wouldn’t be able to go forward in jest, or zest. Therefore, survival is what is keeping both Kejriwal and AAP going. The Modi government and the BJP have at least achieved this limited objective; hobbling AAP with allegations. Kejriwal’s dilemma is not which party and top opposition leader to strike an alliance with. Just like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah wanted it to happen, the AAP and Kejriwal have been crippled into paralysis. Right now, Kejriwal is more bothered about “when will I be detained and arrested and jailed?” than in striking a balance with Congress and the rest of the opposition parties. Some positive vibes with Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin regarding opposition unity is the only silver lining, otherwise, there isn’t much to cheer about. AAP Supremo’s position on the future government formation will be made known only after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

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The Hills Times
The Hills Timeshttps://www.thehillstimes.in/
The Hills Times, a largely circulated English daily published from Diphu and printed in Guwahati, having vast readership in hills districts of Assam, and neighbouring Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.
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