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Journalism of Courage
Since emerging onto the national political scene, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has frequently taken breaks to go on vipassana – meditation retreats during which one remains in isolation, with no access to phones, televisions, newspapers or any other media, to achieve “self-transformation through the process of self-observation”.
Last week, as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned him for questioning in the Delhi excise policy case on January 3, Kejriwal left for a 10-day vipassana retreat in Punjab. The CM had also skipped the previous two ED summons – on November 2 and December 21. In October, the Supreme Court had maintained that mere non-cooperation over ED summons was not grounds for arrest.
The BJP, though, has targeted Kejriwal over the trip, questioning its timing and location in AAP-ruled Punjab. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said, “Kusashan (bad governance) and vipassana can’t go hand in hand. If you have done kusashan, then you will have to face jail-asana. And we are not saying this, your ministers are saying this. They have done a referendum on whether the government will be run from Tihar after your arrest. They are so confident. But don’t you worry, Kejriwal can do vipassana in jail also. There are such provisions.”
2013: First Assembly polls
Kejriwal’s first public brush with vipassana was soon after rising to prominence in Delhi politics. Just days after his then newly formed Aam Aadmi Party had contested its first Assembly election on December 4 in 2013, the AAP convenor left for the meditation break, returning before counting on December 8, which gave the party 28 of the Assembly’s 70 seats. Kejriwal became the CM for the first time, with support from the Congress, which was reduced to 8 seats after three consecutive terms in power in Delhi under Sheila Dikshit.
However, Kejriwal’s first term lasted less than two months. Unable to pass the anti-corruption Jan Lokpal Bill with the Congress refusing to support it, Kejriwal resigned in February 2014, and Delhi was placed under Central rule.
2014: The LS plunge
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the AAP decided to take an all-out plunge and contest in 432 seats. Kejriwal himself entered the race against then BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi from Varanasi. Before the results came on May 16, Kejriwal shot off for another vipassana retreat, this time to Haryana. Kejriwal lost to Modi by 3.71 lakh votes in the polls, and the AAP secured just 4 seats overall.
2016: The HC setback
Kejriwal’s next vipassana – in Himachal Pradesh – came in August 2016, following his party’s win in the 2015 Assembly polls in Delhi, which saw him become CM once again, amid AAP push for statehood for Delhi. While he was away, in a setback for Kejriwal, the Delhi High Court ruled that the Capital “continues to be a Union Territory” under the administrative control of the Lt Governor and “does not acquire the status of a State”.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra linked the two developments, saying, “The AAP has received a slap on its face from the legal system. It had been misleading the people of Delhi and doing this drama that the Centre was not allowing its government (to function)… Kejriwal knew that such a verdict was coming today, and so he went into hiding in the name of vipassana… A man who worships power and comments on all issues under the sun is keeping away on the pretext of vipassana.”
The AAP government’s troubles with the Centre had begun by then, with the AAP government in a constant war of words with the LG’s office for control of administration in the national capital. Kejriwal also repeatedly accused the Centre of interfering in Delhi’s affairs through the LG.
2017, 2021: Bypoll win, Chandigarh foray
In September 2017, after the party’s win in the Bawana constituency bypoll, necessitated by AAP sitting MLA Ved Parkash’s resignation and subsequent entry into the BJP, Kejriwal went on a 10-day vipassana in Maharashtra.
In September 2021, months before the AAP contested in its first Chandigarh Municipal Corporation election, Kejriwal again went on a vipassana in Jaipur.
2022: MCD win, Gujarat debut
After the December 2022 Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections, in which the AAP won 134 of the 250 seats and wrested control from the BJP after 15 years of the party in power in the civic polls, and the Gujarat Assembly polls, in which the party won its first seats in the state with five AAP MLAs emerging victorious, Kejriwal ended the year with a vipassana session.
“Many hundred years ago Lord Buddha taught this knowledge. Have you done vipassana? If not, then definitely do it once. There is a lot of mental, physical and spiritual benefit,” Kejriwal tweeted ahead of his trip. After returning, he said, “After seven days of vipassana meditation, I have come out today. Meditation has always given me spiritual strength and mental peace. This time also I am returning with more energy and with a resolve to serve the country.”
The BJP accused Kejriwal of taking a “leisure break” while Delhi citizens were “suffering in harsh winters”. BJP IT in-charge Amit Malviya said, “Be the Chief Minister of Delhi, take care of Delhi, that will be enough. People are suffering from pollution, clean drinking water, broken roads, dilapidated hospitals, dilapidated schools, all are waiting for you. Spent months in Gujarat elections, then went for a trip. Now do some work too. Delhi is waiting.”
