The leader of the Aam Admi Party (AAP) and Delhi’s Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal is sticking to his time-tested tactics to strike hard bargains and expand his party’s reach. Kejriwal’s recent move to walk out of the opposition parties meeting in Patna has put the Congress on tenterhooks. Moreover, it is well-known that the AAP can prosper and expand at the cost of the Congress, as it has done in Delhi and Punjab over the past decade.
Kejriwal has been trying to project the Congress as a villain in popular eyes ever since the talks of opposition unity began. He knows that even though the AAP is a small party, it will generate more sympathy in public minds because the Congress is big. The AAP has also been eating into Congress’ support base and focusing on the Congress-ruled states or those where the party is strong. The AAP has been leaving no stone unturned to make political inroads and ensure the Congress loses power.
Ajay Maken, a Congress leader, has accused Kejriwal of being in cahoots with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Maken also pointed out that while Kejriwal seeks Congress’ support on the one hand, he goes to Rajasthan and makes statements against one of its senior-most leaders. Maken’s comments have made it clear that AAP’s troubled relations with Congress continue.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is finding it challenging to bring AAP and Congress on board for a united opposition. As AAP is not going to support the united opposition unless Congress publicly opposes the Center’s executive order, Congress is playing its cards carefully and not committing its support to AAP on the ordinance issue. However, it may be political suicide for Congress not to support AAP on the Ordinance issue or abstain from voting in the Rajya Sabha since it will be seen as a step away from the united opposition stand.
Kejriwal’s clever mind games are only harming the first sincere bid by opposition parties to take on the BJP whose foundation was laid in Patna on June 23. By acting too smart and targeting Congress, Kejriwal’s small-time politics may damage the main objective of dislodging the BJP that is subverting the federal principles which protect the rights of states like Delhi.
