In what appeared to be a set piece of power play ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Aam Aadmi Party national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested in a case of money laundering in the liquor policy scam. Some of the other set pieces were the arrests of the then Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren and BRS leader K Kavitha, besides the ongoing CBI action against the Trinamool’s Mahua Moitra, the reopening of the 2G scam by the Delhi High Court, the alliance with the TDP in Andhra Pradesh, and the BJP becoming the third pole in Tamil Nadu politics, cobbling together an alliance.
The central law enforcement agencies appear to be the executing arm for most of the set pieces though the timing may have come from elsewhere. The apparent aim is to create a differentiator before the public eye between the ‘clean’ BJP and the ‘corrupt’ opposition INDIA bloc to draw closer to the 370 jackpot. But, the recent data dump of electoral bonds showed major parties across the spectrum, including the BJP, the Congress and the AAP, getting questionable funds that could easily be linked to quid quo pros.
Arrests under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act give courts little wriggle room for a quick bail. Yet, Kejriwal hasn't given up his chief ministership partly since he personifies the party. It’s also because he does not trust anyone else to be at the helm. When Bhagwant Mann claims Kejriwal was, is and will remain the party head or Delhi minister Atishi says he will continue to run the government from jail, chances are they are signalling their loyalty so that they are considered for promotion. Kejriwal may have to take the interim leadership call sooner than later.
The BJP rolled the dice by positioning the country’s best communicators Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Delhi CM against each other. Kejriwal has already taken a Christ-like position by telling his followers not to hate the BJP. But he knows he is no longer the icon of probity in public life, his USP in politics. The Enforcement Directorate described him as the kingpin of the liquor policy scam. But if BJP fails to repeat its sweep in the LS polls in Delhi, it would be seen as Kejriwal’s victory in absentia much like Imran Khan in Pakistan did from jail though the military robbed the popular mandate.