Delhi 2014 : When Politics Hit New Lows

By Deepak Parvatiyar

January 1, 2015

The year 2014 was a time of upheaval in Delhi politics. Almost all political parties and their leaders had a contribution – direct or indirect – in leaving behind some unsavoury situations.  Here are some of such distressing moments in the political life of the national capital :

1. CM Kejriwal on Dharna:  The Centre-state relationship came under a close scrutiny following an unprecedented move by the then Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to sit on an indefinite dharna and spend a night under the open sky at the Raiseena Hills in January winter. He was irked at the Delhi Police’s refusal to raid an alleged drug and prostitution racket in the Assembly constituency of state’s Law Minister Somnath Bharti in spite of the latter’s instructions to this effect. Kejriwal wanted action against the erring police officials. He also wanted the Delhi police to be brought under the purview of the Delhi government – a demand that was turned down by the Centre.

Kejriwal’s way of protest created a huge debate over the conduct of a chief minister and even invited criticism from certain quarters. Obviously, the Centre-State confrontation in a federal structure had hit a new low by his method.

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2. FIR against Sheila Dikshit:  After her humiliating defeat in the state elections in 2013, more troubles chased former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit as the Anti-Corruption Branch of the Delhi government lodged an FIR against the former CM in a graft case under the Prevention of Corruption Act and provisions of the Indian Penal Code. The complaint against Dikshit’s alleged involvement in the Rs 31.07 crore Commonwealth Games streetlight project scam was filed by the Delhi Urban Development Ministry as a follow-up of the AAP government’s election promise of booking the culprits.

3. Abrupt End of Arvind Kejriwal Government: The fall of the Aam Aadmi Party government was as abrupt as its rise in Delhi. On the 49th day of assuming power in Delhi, CM Arvind Kejriwal quit after the government failed to table the Jan Lokpal bill in the state Assembly in February. The move, fraught with political implications, earned Kejriwal the sobriquet of Bhagora (one who runs away from responsibilities) from his detractors. Kejriwal blamed both the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party as well as the Congress (which had lent outside support to his government) of stalling the bill and linked it with his government’s decision to register an FIR against Reliance Industries head Mukesh Ambani. The Congress, however, claimed it had not withdrawn its support to the government.

The way the Bill was taken up in the House too was equally controversial. While the House was repeatedly disrupted by the Congress and the BJP that demanded the Speaker MS Dhir to read out a written “message” from the Lieutenant Governor over the constitutional status of the Bill, Dhir did finally read out the message and allowed the Chief Minister to table the Bill. However, this led to chaos forcing adjournment of the House.

4. Internal Rift in AAP: The ‘Bhagora’ stigma stuck to Kejriwal and his party got a drubbing in theGeneral Elections where it failed to open its account in Delhi and could win just four seats elsewhere. This created a rift in the party and the leaders resorted to open spat – a trademark of power politics. At least ten prominent founding members of the AAP quit the party and the rift between its ideologue Yogendra Yadav and Kejriwal became a public spectacle.

5. Lt. Governor Accused of Helping the BJP: AAP dragged the office of the Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung with charges that it was helping the BJP form its government in Delhi. The basis of the AAP’s allegation was a September 4 letter from the LG to President Pranab Mukherjee recommending inviting the BJP to form the government in the city state, and the AAP claimed the LG’s move had encouraged the BJP to resort to horse trading.

6. Charges of Poaching against BJP:  The AAP made representation to the Lieutenant Governor in September and submitted a CD containing the sting operation video footage wherein the city BJP vice president Sher Singh Dagar was shown allegedly trying to lure an AAP MLA Dinesh Mohania for Rs 4 crore.

7.  Inordinate Delay in the Dissolution of Delhi Assembly : In yet another moment of shame, the Supreme Court rapped the Union Government (read the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance) and the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi over the delay in government formation in Delhi on 28th October 2014.The apex court’s reprimand came after the Centre informed it that the President had given consent to invite the single-largest party (the BJP) to form the government. While observing that the President’s rule could not go on forever in a democracy, the court went on to ask, “Suppose lieutenant governor is going to invite the largest party. Are they in a position to form the government?”

8.  Season of Political Turncoats: Opportunistic politics once again raised its head in Delhi and this time exposed even the AAP leaders’ lust for power as they quit the party to join the “rising Sun” – the BJP. Prominent among them were the AAP MLAs MS Dhir, who was the Speaker of the last Assembly, and Ashok Chauhan, who left the party for greener pasture just when the state elections are round the corner.

9. Hate Speech by Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti: The “Ramzada … Haramzada” comment by Union minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti in an election rally in Delhi created a ruckus and stalled the proceedings of Parliament.

10. Communal Flare-up in Bawana and Trilokpuri: The communal violence in Trilokpuri and Bawana made politics hit yet another low in the national capital as it sought to vitiate the atmosphere before the polls for narrow political gains.