Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday upped the ante against fourth estate for taking 'supari' to 'finish off the AAP'

"A very large section of the media has accepted 'supari' for finishing off AAP," Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal declared on Sunday, employing Bollwood-esque language as he upped the ante in his battle against the fourth estate.

Having defined the threat, Kejriwal then went on to offer the antidote

"If you see that a particular channel is showing something factually incorrect, then you should raise the issue...There can be a public trial. There can be 8-10 spots in Delhi where we can collect a group of people and show the erroneous clip. That way we can start a 'janta ka trial'," he told the audience at the launch of jantakareporter.com.

He, thankfully, didn't have a plan yet on what he would do with the verdict of such a 'janta ka trial'.

It's not difficult to see why the Delhi chief minister is eager to take on the media.

Since coming to power in Delhi, his party seems to have made headlines more for its internal strife, than over any policy decisions it has made as the ruling outfit in the state.

And just as he ostensibly ended the Yogendra Yadav - Prashant Bhushan controversy by kicking them out of the party after a long drawn out, highly public and ugly struggle, a farmer hanged himself at an AAP rally organised to protest against the land bill.

This incident, which occurred during a rally that was ostensibly meant to signal the return of AAP to politics as usual, gave the central government the upper hand in the battle of words and put the party on the defensive as a police case was filed against it.

Kejriwal was barely able to take a breath, when the controversy regarding his law minister Narendra Tomar and his allegedly fake university degrees delivered more bad news.

As all good politicians, Kejriwal knows all too well, when the message is unwelcome, it is best to kill the messenger -- or rather, accuse the messenger of trying to kill you.

This is not the first time that Kejriwal has fallen back on media conspiracy theories to paint himself as a victim. This is what he said while launching a anti-corruption helpline in April:

"From the day our government was made, there was a big conspiracy being hatched against me and my government by trying to defame us and make us unsuccessful...Today, anyone starts abusing me it becomes breaking news. If someone has to get fame in 24 hours then start abusing me and TV camera will focus on them. People are writing blog and posting against me on Twitter. This is all part of a conspiracy,"

In another incident, Kejriwal had sparked controversy ahead of the general election by alleging that the media had taken money in exchange for favourable coverage of the BJP. And then there have been multiple conspiracy theories that have been the subject of the party's exposes in the run up to the general elections of 2014. Like the boy who cried wolf, Kejriwal has bandied about the C-word over and over again.

None of this is new. Political leaders are adept at detecting devious plots the moment they land in trouble. Conspiracy theories help deflect attention from the issue at hand, and buys time for damage control. But it's also the classic trapdoor for any politician to evade blame for pretty much anything.

Now,Kejriwal has constantly claimed that he's not your typical politician. And he is hardly in a typical situation.

There's no doubt, given his adversarial relationship with the central government, Kejriwal will struggle to pass any legislation through the Delhi Assembly. And with every misstep and stumble will come criticism - especially after the massive mandate he was given in the last assembly polls.

The media, as in the case of the farmer's hanging, is also bound to make errors, either consciously or unconsciously. A case in point is the Zee News report against Kumar Vishwas, which reportedly accused him of saying 'latak gaya' when farmer Gajendra Singh had hanged himself. The report was subsequently debunked by the party using footage from other media outlets.

But a constantly combative attitude to the media is not going to really help AAP either. Instead of adopting terms like 'supari journalism' from political rival General (retired) VK Singh (who also infamously has led the charge against 'presstitutes'), Kejriwal would do well to learn how to take it on the chin better.

Unlike its bigger competitors, and whether they like it or not, the AAP will face more pressure and criticism as it goes through its five years given the promise with which it came to power. But this is just part and parcel of electoral politics in an era of 24X7 media coverage. Every other party knows the score. The UPA government came in for intense relentless criticism ahead of the general election, and mostly took it on the chin. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shown a better ability to hold his tongue despite widespread criticism over statements made by his legislators and followers.

Kejriwal and the party are going to continue to face reports that may even be inaccurate but they can't scream and run into battle mode every time.

With the social media reach that the party has among its volunteers, it is difficult to see why the Delhi Chief Minister wants 'janta darbars' to judge the media, given that party leaders have already been using Twitter and Facebook to take on the press. Instead of inventing demons to divert attention from his troubles, the Delhi Chief Minister would do well to restrain himself. After all, where is the sense in fighting bad news by creating more of the same?