When Narendra Modi’s candidature
from Varanasi was announced, ‘thinking’ about
Arvind Kejriwal jumping in the poll fray from the Temple City was the only waiting to happen.
And given the developments around
the Aam Aadmi Party and Arvind Kejriwal after the audacious and shameless act
of (im)morality in resigning from the Delhi government, his increasingly
dictatorial style of running his party as flood of such reports and regular
exodus of his party members suggest, his incessant ‘I am always right’ rant, his
increasingly visible temperamental, volatile and stubborn personality and his
deepening style of ‘hit and run’ politics, charging others with wild
allegations (without any proof, as has become his trademark), attacking anyone
who criticises him, using undemocratic words to threaten his critics (like his
‘jailing the media’ outburst), if any interest in his candidature from Varanasi
was left, then it was basically about how dramatized it’s unveiling was going
to be this time (though it may or may not happen when it comes to happening it
finally).
And lo! The way it happened again
confirmed what Arvind Kejriwal had become in just three months of being in the
mainstream politics of India (or what he really was and the three months in the
mainstream politics has uncovered the layers that had concealed his true identity
that made many of us (including me) to think him as a different politician who
could bring vital, much needed changes in the System).
In their verbal jugglery and
vocal bravery, Arvind Kejriwal had announced to contest against Naredra Modi in
the Lok Sabha polls. When Narendra Modi’s name was confirmed by ‘sources’, his
lieutenant Manish Sisodia declared Arvind Kejriwal would take on Modi from
Varanasi if indeed Modi’s candidature was confirmed from the city.
The thread was continued by
Arvind Kejriwal the evening the BJP declared Modi’s name from Varanasi when the
balloon of his vocal bravery inflated his cord to push him to say he would
contest from Varanasi (against Narendra Modi).
But then something happened.
Though, we can analyse (and can reach to a logical point of analysing), only
Mr. Kejriwal can tell us what transpired in those moments that pushed him to
add a rider to his proclamation of contesting against Narendra Modi from
Varanasi.
He said he would announce it in
AAP’s Varanasi
rally to be addressed by him on March 23 (that has been rescheduled for March
25 due to the local polls in the city) after consulting the public over it.
Now we remember how Mr. Kejriwal
ditched the public of Delhi after taking its
approval through his ‘sms referendum’ on forming the government in Delhi. He did not do one
before resigning (ideally, he must have done that).
Now for contesting from Varanasi, we do not know
how he is going to take the public opinion. It is March 19 and there is no word
on any ‘sms referendum’ sort of thing. Taking a voice vote of the public in his
rally may be the one possible way. Let’s see how does he try to play with the ball
this time?
And in all this, till his March
25 rally in Varanasi, while he travels in this thoughts and exercises his ‘strategising’
in his party’s parleys, he will always be in two minds on ‘accepting the public
opinion’ or ‘shielding behind it’ to use it as the excuse for not contesting
from Varanasi’.
But, he cannot backtrack now,
even if it is already a lost battle for him.