Arvind Kejriwal (Image: X)
With the Delhi Court providing a lifeline to AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, by rejecting all allegations against him and his co-accused in the infamous liquor scam, the Centre has egg all over its face. It is therefore least surprising that Kejriwal did not waste any time on being discharged and has launched a scathing attack on the BJP for “manipulating the law” and “subverting democracy” by “stealing” the Assembly polls last year on trumped up charges.
Without wasting any time and pre-empting efforts of other parties in the I.N.D.I.A bloc in projecting their respective leaders for the top position for the next round of Parliamentary polls, Kejriwal has already made his intentions known. “I made roads and created infrastructure for Delhi” and “I shall do this for the rest of the country now”, he said in his media interaction.
While the BJP has been on the radar of the former Delhi CM’s attack, it is the Congress that is also going to face the political consequences of his discharge by the court. In states like Gujarat and Goa and also Punjab, Kejriwal could play the spoiler for the grand old party, thus indirectly helping the BJP.
The Congress has always described the AAP as the “B” team of the RSS, but has to realize that Kejriwal can be breathing down its neck in crucial polls, thus impacting its influence. The Congress is very much in the reckoning in the upcoming Kerala and Assam polls, where Rahul Gandhi’s growing popularity shall be put to test.
But within the I.N.D.I.A bloc, there is already a division on the question of leadership, with a section demanding that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was most suitable for assuming the leadership role, given her track record of taking the BJP head-on and winning multiple elections in the state. Moreover, she is a Brahmin and a woman, two points, which also provide her an advantage in the political atmosphere that exists in the country.
Coming back to the Liquorgate scam, which has failed the first test of judiciary, it needs to be also analysed politically. The 2025 Assembly polls were held in the backdrop of the scams which never existed and thus it can be construed that the victory scored by the BJP after Madan Lal Khurana led it to the podium in 1993, was in a manner questionable.
However, in democracy, there is no way of turning the clock back and one has to wait for the next round in order to win the faith of the people. Kejriwal has no other option but to wait till the next confrontation, though he shall be more aggressive in criticizing the Delhi government from now onwards.
The scenario of the 2025 Assembly polls was in a way similar to the one which existed in the run-up to the 2014 Parliamentary polls which were contested with the UPA government facing heat because of the alleged 2G scam and the controversial report released by the then CAG chief Vinod Rai. Nothing that was said during the India Against Corruption movement could be established in the court of law, though it created a perception leading to the rout of the Congress and its allies in the polls.
The AAP will be now commencing agitations against the Central government with all vigour, but in the process shall be marginalizing the Congress further in the national capital. The Congress has no MP or MLA in the city which it once controlled and it is unlikely that its efforts to be the major challenger to the BJP, are likely to succeed given that the AAP shall now be ensuring that it would be the first alternative to the saffron brigade.
For Kejriwal personally, it is a vindication of his position that he had committed no wrong and there had been no corruption during his regime. In fact, the court has certified both Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia as “kattar imandar”, a phrase which is going to be used extensively in public rallies of the AAP in the future.
The Central Bureau of Investigation, often regarded as the premier investigating agency would have much to answer in this case as well. The manner in which its voluminous documentation was outrightly rejected by the court is a reflection on its style of functioning and credibility. The agency was unable to substantiate the charges, essentially based on the testimony of an approver, which is the least acceptable evidence in any court of law unless supported by circumstantial evidence and other proofs. The CBI, described by the government’s opponents, as an instrument of intimidating political dissent, shall find it difficult to get its appeal in the Higher Courts accepted given that the lower judiciary verdict has put a huge question mark on its failure to prove the charges. A discharge by the Court is a big slap on the face of the agency.
There are lessons to be learnt by the media as well. Creating an erroneous perception by portraying any political party or leader in poor light on the basis of disputable charges was not going to be the way forward. People see through designs and conspiracies and in the end, the credibility of the media suffers.
Kejriwal and his associates have earned a reprieve which shall go a long way in helping them resurrect their political future. Between us.
