New Delhi: This fight does not seem to end till one of the two completes his term in office. The Delhi Police has become a collateral damage in the fight between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Kejriwal has once again hit back at the Delhi Police calling them the most corrupt in a series of tweets. He cites a survey done by CMS to back his claims. He has asked Modi to handover the Delhi Police to state government led by him to ‘ensure’ a good security to all residents of the national capital.
The relationship between Kejriwal and Delhi police has always been very stormy. Even before he came to power, he took on the Delhi police during Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev’s agitation in 2011. During his first stint (49 days government) as chief minister, Kejriwal created a record of sorts by sleeping on Rajpath near the Parliament building seeking action against the police for their action against his the then Law minister Somnath Bharti. That agitation fizzled out and Kejriwal had to beat a hasty retreat. After he refused to seek bail in a case, Kejriwal was briefly sent to Tihar jail in Delhi in mid-2014.
Immediately after he returned to power in February, 2015, Kejriwal once again took on the police. He demanded that the Centre should hand over the policing job to the elected state government. The appointment of Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) chief once again brought them face to face. He even made a derogatory reference to Delhi police calling them ‘Thullah’. Some Delhi police constables had even lodged complaints against him for this remark.
The Delhi Police’s over enthusiastic actions against his ministers and MLAs like Jitendra Tomar, Somnath Bharti, Commando Surender Singh, Alka Lamba and a few others have also added to the already strained relationship and worsened the situation.
Kejriwal has been playing victim claiming that since he has no control over the police, he is not in a position to maintain law and order in Delhi. His statement has some logic and his argument is based on facts. However what goes against him is his own comments against his predecessor Sheila Dixit. When Sheila Dixit was Delhi chief minister, Kejriwal had attacked her over deteriorating law and order situation in Delhi calling her a helpless chief minister. He had even asked her to quit instead of staying in power. His own words seem to have returned to haunt him now.
The fight is unlikely to end soon. His rivals allege that Kejriwal really does not want any actual control over the police because he will be safe as long as it is with the Centre. Once he gets control, he will have to deliver and can’t blame the Centre if and when the things go wrong, they argue.
A clever Kejriwal is playing to the gallery. He knows he has nothing to lose. He has pushed the ball into Modi’s court. Sadly, the hapless people of Delhi can have a free entertainment at the cost of their own basic security till Modi and Kejriwal resolve the issue.
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