In 2011, when Arvind Kejriwal announced the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement, I was deeply moved. I had then just joined the BJP and, with my party’s permission, I spoke at eight IAC rallies in the southern states and even went to Pragati Maidan, where activist Anna Hazare and my friend Kiran Bedi were the foremost among those supporting the movement. I was impressed by the Kejriwal movement because I had launched a similar movement to fight corruption, called Janashakthi, in 1994. I was the commissioner of the Delhi Development Authority from 1992 to 1997, fighting the massive corruption in the city and knocking down illegal buildings that belonged to the mafia. Eventually, we pulled down 14,310 illegal buildings, starting with the 200,000 sq ft building belonging to Congress leader H K L Bhagat.
Janashakthi had no intention of becoming a political party, although we wanted to be a corrective force. I believed that being a bureaucrat did not prevent me from being a corrective force.
I admired Kejriwal’s courage when he quit the service and transformed the India Against Corruption movement into a political party because for any significant change, one needs political power. I quit the Indian Administrative Service at 52 and got elected as an independent MLA in 2006, supported by the Left. I quit the Kerala Assembly on March 16, 2011, the day I was re-nominated by the Left Front to contest again because I felt that the country was corrupt to the core. I believed that the only person who could set things right was Narendra Modi and so, I joined the BJP. Most people said that I had acted stupidly because back in 2011, there was no sign that Modi would become the Prime Minister. The then CPM secretary and current Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, told me, “Alphons, don’t leave. You will be in the next cabinet.” I told him that I was leaving as I saw Modi as the only hope for the country.
When the Aam Aadmi Party was launched, I saw plenty of political space for it. While I had no plans to join the party, even though I had supported IAC, I had great hope that this young man, Kejriwal, would revolutionise governance.
Instead, he has proved to be a disappointment. I know this because I have been living in Delhi since Kejriwal came to power. He promised a lot and delivered little. He has indeed provided free electricity and water to the poorest. But it is easy to give freebies. There was so much that Kejriwal, as chief minister, could have done in India’s capital, even though his government did not have power over police and land. Yet, Delhi is completely unlivable, because Kejriwal talked a lot and did precious little.
He impressed India as an anti-corruption crusader, calling for the abolition of the entitlements of the powerful. He wanted the red siren, a symbol of privilege, to be done away with. He dressed simply and said that he would live in a two-bedroom house. That same man then renovated his official residence reportedly for Rs 45 crore. As a Union Minister, I was allowed to spend only Rs 10 lakh.
AAP followers and the INDIA front have raised a hue and cry over Kejriwal’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Let us look at the facts. The ED had issued him nine notices. He had every opportunity to explain himself. What was the sense of entitlement that led him to refuse to appear before them? Does he think that he is above the law?
The other question is, with the elections happening soon, was this the right time to arrest Kejriwal? Would doing so not stifle the voice of democracy, given that he was a star campaigner for the Opposition alliance? But when a crime is committed, there is no right or wrong time to nab the culprits. Kejriwal was considered a “holy cow”, so the central agencies gave him a long rope. He went to the courts, but they looked at the evidence and refused to intervene.
When asked about Kejriwal’s arrest, Anna Hazare, who was the heart and soul of the IAC movement, had this to say: “As you sow, so shall you reap. He has been arrested because of his deeds. Now that he has been arrested, the courts and government will decide what’s proper and what’s improper.”
The writer is a former Union minister. He currently practices in the Supreme Court and was a 1979 batch officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
