When UPA was in power and everybody was getting used to hearing about new scams everyday, Anna Hazare’s movement looked like a ray of hope in a system where everybody is corrupt. At last when the movement ended and “Aam aadmi party” was formed with some great utopian promises, not just Delhites but every citizen was happy. We all dreamed that finally we have a leader who is educated, knows system from inside and going to fight the corruption which not only have put money in the politician’s pocket but also have crippled the dreams of young talented youth of India. Kejriwal emerged from that movement with an image of honest politician almost like Anil Kapoor’s character from the Nayak movie, who is determined to keep corruption and criminals away from politics.
Right from that moment everybody who voted for Arvind Kejriwal wanted to end the corruption but a lot of things have changed since his first term in 2013 which lasted for only 49 days. Lets us look at some promises made by Kejriwal when he formed Aam Aadmi Party. From the first day itself, Kejriwal made it very clear that no criminal will get a ticket from his party, he along will Manish Sisodia made promises to check background of all party member. AAP was formed to fight entry of criminals in politics but same party has topped the list of parties with most criminals getting tickets in 2020 Delhi election. Out of 70, 36 candidates of AAP have serious criminals cases against them which is far greater than the rival parties BJP and INC.
Next is corruption, AAP promised to fight it and it was the basis of its formation. As on date, tankers mafia is still active in Delhi, even AAP MLA Prakash Jarwal has been caught taking bribes of 60 lakh every month from tanker mafia. Mohalla clinics also have serious allegations regarding recruitment and use of funds. Lot of clinics never worked for a single day in entire term of Aam Aadmi party. A chief minister who paid a bill of over 1 crore just for Chai samosa in a year cannot claim to be honest. Kejriwal promised to end luxuries enjoyed by ministers funded by taxpayers money. He himself refused to avail Sarkari bunglow and car but after election he requested for not just one but two adjacent bunglows. Now he lives in a plush 9000 square feet VVIP bunglow.
He spent huge sums of money on renovation of bunglows and is paying electricity bills in lakhs of 30 ACs running in his residence with government funds. The man who refused to avail car before election now rides in a fortuner.
Before elections, kejriwal always carried a list in every press conference of corrupt politicians with claims that he have proofs against them but as we all know after elections he had asked for forgiveness in court from a lot of politicians whose names were on that list after they filed defamation cases. the politicians once he claimed as corrupt, now he is ready to form coalitions with them. Once he used to target other parties over advertisement expenditure, now his party is at forefront of advertisement campaign. Delhi Government ads can be seen published in newspapers in other states also.
In 2012 on national television, kejriwal declared all other political parties as corrupt and promised not to form any coalition government in any circumstances. The kejriwal of 2012 was ready to be in opposition rather than forming coalition government. But as of 2020, kejriwal is ready to form coalition with any political party including UPA whom he fought tooth and nail & formed AAP to fight them, just to get a chance to defeat BJP. Ironically, once his list of corrupt of politicians had Rahul Gandhi’s name on top with whom is ready for an alliance.
At last I can say that Kejriwal of 2012 seemed like honest, educated and promising future leader but kejriwal of 2020 is just like every other leader. He became like all others whom he promised to fight. I hope he looks back on old promises and get back on the path to fulfill them.
