Journalism of Courage
As he continues to reach out to Opposition leaders seeking support against the Centre’s Ordinance wresting control of ‘services’ from the Delhi government, leaders from the BJP and Congress’s Delhi units are unanimous in their offensive against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the issue.
After Kejriwal publicly sought a meeting with former Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, leaders from both Delhi BJP and Congress have become more vocal in their opposition against his quest for support from parties and leaders who they said he had himself targeted over corruption charges.
Reacting to the AAP national convenor’s meeting with CPI(M) leaders over seeking support against the Central Government’s Ordinance a day earlier, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said Kejriwal had made himself a subject of ridicule by “knocking on every door possible” over the issue.
“It’s surprising to see Kejriwal, like a political joker, knock on the doors of leaders whom he just till yesterday not only called corrupt but also contested allegations against across the country,” Sachdeva said.
“Only a true chameleon-like Kejriwal can contest against the CPM in Kerala, the Samajwadi Party in UP, the Congress in Gujarat, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, MP, Karnataka etc. and the TMC in Bengal and then innocently seek their political support,” Sachdeva added.
Leaders from the Congress’ Punjab and Delhi units had, at a meeting with party president Mallikarjun Kharge including senior leaders Rahul Gandhi and K C Venugopal among others on Monday, bluntly argued against extending any support to the AAP in addition to underlying the need to keep Kejriwal “at an arm’s length.”
Reacting to the tweet by Kejriwal saying he had sought time to meet Gandhi, Congress leader Alka Lamba had shared AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh’s video attacking parties “run by political families” along with slides of the Delhi chief minister’s meetings with the same leaders seeking support.
Lamba underlined the AAP was “bowing before those same political families” that Singh had sought to attack through his speech. “Will you show the courage to repeat it again? Or will you apologise?” she had asked.
The AAP had routed the Congress in Delhi—reducing it to nought in successive Assembly elections in 2015 and 2020. It also ousted the Congress from power in Punjab in the 2022 Assembly polls.
On Monday, sources said the Punjab unit of the Congress told the leadership that it will go the Delhi unit’s way if the party enters into any understanding with the AAP. A senior leader said the AAP was on a “spree to put the entire Congress behind bars in Punjab”.
Among those who attended the Congress leadership’s meeting with the Delhi unit were Delhi AICC in-charge Shaktisinh Gohil, Delhi president Anil Chaudhary, and other senior leaders including Ajay Maken, Subhash Chopra, J P Agarwal, Arvinder Singh Lovely, Devender Yadav, and Haroon Yusuf.
Maken, who has already taken an aggressive stance over the ordinance matter against any association with the AAP, reiterated his position forcefully”.
“Leaders from Delhi spoke against supporting the AAP on the Ordinance. However, at least two of them spoke in favour of supporting the Ordinance but only due to technical reasons,” a leader, who was part of the meeting, said.
“These two leaders, Lovely and Chopra, were of the opinion that support for the ordinance was warranted given the Congress’s previous stand in favour of more administrative powers for an elected government in Delhi. However, both said the final decision regarding this was up to the high command.”
Both its Delhi and Punjab units are not in favour of the Congress opposing the Ordinance, with some of their leaders suggesting that the party stage a walk-out when the Bill is put to vote.
A Delhi leader had said, “When it comes to the Ordinance, the Delhi unit was of the opinion that the BJP will somehow be able to push it through, so it will be a battle not worth fighting, given the stakes for us when it comes to triggering discontent among our state units across the country by showing any overt support for the AAP”.
Taking aim at the AAP chief, a Delhi leader had claimed, “Kejriwal is using this ordinance as a bogey to appear as a self-styled saviour of the Constitution. This is only because he is embroiled in corruption charges which have dented his image.”
