Arvind Kejriwal is drawing considerable popularity today given his landslide victory in the Delhi elections. Sheila Dikshit is probably looking at all the fanfare wistfully. The media is editorialising him while the fashion world is suddenly sitting up to take note of him. Practically everybody knows that he gained this office after a hard struggle and it’s evident that his increasing base of followers and even the fence sitters wish him well. But as much as we wish him all the luck in his new office, this is one celebrity whose shoes we wouldn’t want to fill. And when you hear why, you probably would feel the same way too. Here’s why:
Clash with the Titans: This one is a no-brainer. The BJP isn’t a party to take a loss so easily or take things lying down. They wanted the base in Delhi to fortify their throne. So while that has not happened, they will probably make sure that this base remains rocky. So right from administrative roadblocks to long buried cases and investigations, the list of deterrents will be long enough to probably keep Kejriwal from administering Delhi in peace. While Kejriwal may be strong enough to deal with all this, it’s certainly not our cup of tea!
Sky high expectations: Although this is the second time in two years that Kejriwal has been elected, the public expectations are running sky high. Not only is there unflinching faith in some quarters that he would be their deliverance from corruption, there are also the new converts, the ones who recently began following him, who are waiting to see what he would do before solidifying their political views. That’s quite a bit of expectation. To top it all, we hear he has appointed Manish Sisodia as Deputy CM to give him room to expand his party across other states. Smart move, but it’s my guess that the voters want HIM to administer Delhi, deliver on HIS promises, not his wingman. No matter how honest and sincere Sisodia is. It’s like calling for Batman and getting Robin instead! We certainly don’t want to be in his shoes when the realisation hits the public.
Death threats: This is a nasty one and we sincerely hope that nothing happens to him. The latest is Swamy Omiji, an aggressive self-styled godman from Hindu Mahasabha who claims to be an independent who contested from Palika Bazaar, Delhi has sworn to kill him. He also claims that Narendra Modi sought him out for campaigning. Talking to reporters on Monday, he said, “I am from Hindu Mahasabha but BJP is my party.We killed Mahatma Gandhi. In the future, we will try to convince anti-nationals like Kejriwal. If he doesn’t listen, we will shoot him and kill him.”
That’s some seriously scary ass stuff! Kejriwal may probably put a brave face or be dismissive of them, but we would surely lose several nights of sleep, if we were in his place.
Past history: His history of holding down the government for just 49 days runs against him. It was a remarkable move to apologise to the public about it before the elections. It probably turned the tide in his favour to be re-elected. But they and a million others are waiting and watching, to see if he would deliver again or bolt. This may probably come up every time there is trouble. Tough luck!
The saga of the Jan Lokpal Bill: Passing the Jan Lokpal Bill seemed easy to everybody now that Kejriwal has such a huge majority in the house. But the saga continues. In fact, the bill may see cold storage too. Since Delhi is a union territory, any bill that is passed has to be referred to the centre, where it is likely to be turned down, same as last time. To bypass the centre, Kejriwal is demanding statehood for Delhi, but it’s probably easier to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill than get statehood for Delhi, right? So promises to public on one hand, bureaucratic red tape on the other. Not something we want to beat our brains with, do we?
Kicking old habits: With office, comes decorum. The biggest difficulty for Kejriwal will probably be to resist the urge to sit in on a dharna each time a roadblock comes up. Tempting, but heads of states can’t behave like aam aadmis. They have to approach the system from within. Although Kejriwal has said that he will still continue to sit in on dharnas if the situation demands it, we all know that he cannot afford to do it all the same. Must be frustrating for him. We totally get it, but we wouldn’t want to be in that.
Image Courtesy: BCCL
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