So, Kejriwal is in jail for a defamation case (charged, not convicted) and India’s social janta is going nuts after the fact. Ever since he quit his short-term Chief Minister-ship of Delhi, the people of India have rebuked, ridiculed and made Kejriwal the butt of every political joke not directed towards Rahul baba. Now, people are asking if he’s relevant any more, whether being sent to jail means his political career is at an end and if he should just remain there.
Arvind Kejriwal’s political career is just beginning. There are few political leaders who don’t have a charge sheet or a continuous battle with the law, because after all, their job is to shape it and that process is usually accompanied by fighting for or against it. Regardless of Kejriwal’s so called antics, he’s got a sound political agenda and a dream that we should be proud and supportive of. Where did he fail? In execution. He believed that his tactics in Delhi would bring him more satta. He believed that moving on from that stage and, having shown to the people that’s he’s here to bring change, targeting the national stage would be a good idea. He believed that he’d be able to win against India’s Prime Minister-in-waiting just by targeting people’s sensibilities against corruption and bureaucracy. He failed in all those tactics and he’s back to square one and that’s a good thing.
Kejriwal apologized to the people of Delhi for abandoning them. He will always want more power, because that would allow him to bring sweeping change, but Kejriwal has realized something important – if he’s going to play the game, he’ll have to play by the rules. That means he’ll have to sit outside the system for a while, then in the Vidhan Sabha, then work hard towards gaining the trust he’s lost and then aim for a seat in the Lok Sabha before even thinking of trying to be the next Prime Minister of India. Hopefully, in doing so, we’ll not end up with an old man with broken ideals and a glimmer of lost hope in his eyes.
Kejriwal, much like Rahul Gandhi, assumed that India is ready for him. They both believed that India will vote for them for style and overlook the lack of substance. Hopefully, this downfall has taught something to the former. The road to power is not paved by antics but long, hard work that needs time and experience. Hopefully, this IIT grad finds his way before he’s too lost. The tweeters, meanwhile, will keep twitting.
n.b. I was inspired to write this after reading PunsnRoses’ article “Come India, Let’s All Hate Arvind Kejriwal“.