Ravi Shankar By

There are two kinds of saints—martyrs like Guru Tegh Bahadur who are destroyed by powerful enemies while fighting for a cause, and those like Joan of Arc, defied for vanquishing their foes and meet a glorious death on the battlefield. In time, both become envoys of grace, possessed with divine powers, to whom people pray for miracles. Saint Kejriwal defines a third genus of holiness; a taxonomic parody who promises to bring deliverance through opportunism. The end justifies the new Golden Mean. How mean.

With a few exceptions like Narendra Modi or Shivraj Singh Chouhan who delivered on the development plank, betrayal of the popular mandate is the first instinct of any politician assuming power. By expressing his intention to form a government in Delhi in collusion with the Congress party—which created the AAP by default—St Kejriwal has proved this time-tested dictum right. The founder of the people’s party born out of popular anger towards a corrupt ruling party that was drifting aimlessly on the tide of non-governance and law and order anarchy, has betrayed his voters. Fattened by the rhetoric of onions, potatoes and tomatoes, St Kejriwal reveals his hunger for power. An egotist intolerant of all dissent who built the party exclusively around his persona; a plagiarist who appropriated the Anna topi which was the symbol of India’s first rurban war against corruption, St Kejriwal has shown the slavishness of India’s anti-Right towards the Gandhis. Rahul’s praise for Kejriwal that the Congress should learn from the AAP would have placed the political upstart under the illusion that he would be a valued mentor to India’s Dauphin. With his Socialist leanings and mobocratic ideology, St Kejriwal and the Congress have more in common than the Delhi voter has reckoned. By dangling the bait of chief ministership, an out of power Congress would be achieving what it could not while being in power—discredit Delhi’s Don Quixote.

St Kejriwal has cynically passed on the buck to the people of Delhi to persuad him to accept the chair of Indraprastha. The AAP has sought a ‘referendum’ from the capital’s residents, giving them six days to communicate their opinions. AAP claims it has received over 10 lakh responses, but would continue collecting more till Sunday after which St Kejriwal’s decision will be made public. Statistics show over 77 lakh of the 1.19 crore eligible voters in Delhi got ink on their fingers on December 4; with 10 lakh responses, only around 7.7 per cent of Delhi wants St Kejriwal to be their chief minister. Since 33 per cent of Delhi’s voters chose AAP, the party garnered over 25 lakh voters; so only 40 per cent of AAP voters concur with Kejriwal’s ambition. Of the 10 lakh endorsements, it would also be impossible to attest how many were part of the 19 lakh who voted for the Congress. Besides, likes and comments on Facebook and Twitter can be posted from anywhere in the world, and not necessarily from Delhi. Yogendra Yadav’s psephology would no doubt help St Kejriwal’s ruthless calculus swing in favour of an alliance with the Congress when the time comes.

Of course, there are always counter arguments. Is St Kejriwal Delhi’s Chanakya, who has pushed the Congress into a corner? If the Congress, with its history of treacherous support, pulls down St Kejriwal’s government, it will make him 2014’s Martyr of the Year, not just in Delhi but also in other cities where his national aspirations are evident. If his party is able to deliver its manifesto with its ally’s ‘unconditional’ help, he would stand vindicated. Since there are no unconditional friends or enemies in politics, expediency is the new morality. It’s not power but the principle by which it is assumed that defines the character of the leader. It’s a short step from saint to sinner, and ambition is a slippery slope.

ravi@newindianexpress.com