PM refused to meet IAC activist Kejriwal: Kejriwal needs different approach to win hearts and votes

Arvind Kejriwal takes protest against Salman Khurshid to PM's house

Activist turned politician Arvind Kejriwal is leading a protest march to the Prime Minister's 7 Race Course Road residence to push for action against Law Minister Salman Khurshid over allegations that an NGO headed by him and run by his wife siphoned off lakhs of rupees meant for physically challenged people. A group of differently-abled people are accompanying him in his protest march.

The allegations against the minister were made by television channel Aaj Tak. After it aired a sting, Mr Kejriwal demanded that Mr Khurshid must resign and his wife should be arrested. Stridently rejecting the allegations, the minister has said he will take the TV channel to court.  About former activist Arvind Kejriwal, who launched his political party last week, the minister said, "I don't think that Mr. Kejriwal deserves a reply from anybody but we will take care of Kejriwal in due course of time."

But undeterred by the warning, Mr Kejriwal insists that Mr Khurshid must resign immediately. "This is a matter where there should be no inquiry, Salman Khurshid should be dismissed straight away," he said yesterday.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has refused to meet India Against Corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal on Friday, saying he has prior appointments.

While Kejriwal had sought an appointment with the Prime Minister to seek action against Law Minister Salman Khurshid, the PMO says his appointments have already been fixed for the day.

Kejriwal is keeping up the pressure on the UPA. He and a group of differently-abled people will stage a protest at the Prime Minister's 7 Race Course Road residence. They are demanding action against Law Minister Salman Khurshid for alleged malpractices by his UP-based NGO that deals with the differently-abled.

Kejriwal had on Wednesday announced that he will join the disabled people in gheroing Sonia Gandhi's residence but on Thursday his aides said there were changes in their plan after discussions with the differently-abled activists and instead they will march to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence. "On Friday, the differently-abled people will march towards 7, RCR, the official residence of the Prime Minister. The earlier plans have been changed," a member of Kejriwal-led India Against Corruption said. Kejriwal had also tweeted about plans to gherao Gandhi's residence.

Kejriwal needs different approach to win hearts and votes

The Arvind Kejriwal-Robert Vadra faceoff has finally reached the place where it should be — in court instead of in the press.

 

An activist named Nutan Thakur filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Allahabad High Court on Oct. 9, and it has now been admitted. The government must respond within three weeks. Thakur wants the court to explore allegations by social activist Kejriwal that Vadra, son-in-law of Congress Party chief Sonia Gandhi, has been involved in shady land deals.

Perhaps court is the best venue for trying to find out if there is any less-than-aboveboard connection between Vadra, real estate firm DLF and the Haryana government, despite the lonely, but rewarding work of good investigative journalists.

But, there is a question that continues to bother me: why did the budding politician Kejriwal not go to court himself if he and his team had substantial allegations to make against Vadra? If publicity were the reason, he would have started his campaign on a weak note.

Kejriwal is promoting nothing but the concept of “media trial” — a cynical but sometimes effective circus that involves leaders, would-be leaders and various experts debating and levelling charges against each other in press conferences and during prime-time news hours. Whether justice gets done is an open question, but there is no question that it’s good for ratings and that people get their entertainment.

Kejriwal, who was anti-politics when he started his anti-corruption campaign with Anna Hazare, has noble thoughts. He is tired of corruption, like we all are, and wants to reform politics in India.

While the thought is noble, there is a beautiful quote in the Bhagavad Gita which he can refer to before he makes his next promised expose on Oct. 16 — it’s the journey, not the outcome that matters.

If Kejriwal adopts a different way of doing things, he can surely succeed. For now, his style looks no different than that of any other politician.