From Delhi To The Country

Arvind Kejriwal is trying to turn a crisis into an opportunity by using the political furore over the Delhi liquor policy and electoral freebies to his advantage. AAP strategists hope that it will raise his national profile and propel him as Narendra Modi's principal challenger in 2024

- Soni Mishra

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia go back a long way. Around 22 years ago, Sisodia, then a television journalist, was among the first few volunteers who signed up for Kejriwal's anti-corruption campaign called Parivartan. A few years later, Sisodia quit journalism and started working full-time with Kejriwal. The friendship and partnership continued into the Anna Andolan and then into politics.

Sisodia was Kejriwal's closest confidant as he worked behind the scenes to mount the anti-corruption Jan Lokpal movement in 2011 and then launched the Aam Aadmi Party the following year. So it was ironic when the Central Bureau of Investigation raided Sisodia's premises on August 19 and booked him in a case pertaining to alleged corruption in framing a new excise policy for Delhi.

The irony of the situation and its political implications were not lost on Kejriwal. The case exposed the top AAP leadership to allegations of corruption, ironic because the party emerged from an anti-corruption movement. Also, if Sisodia came under the scanner for any wrongdoing, Kejriwal was the next obvious target, politically at least, because of their close association.

A bitter feud has been going on between the AAP government in Delhi and the BJP-led Union government. The confrontation has only intensified since the appointment of Vinai Kumar Saxena as lieutenant governor. Cases against AAP's MLAs or the actions of investigating agencies against its ministers do not have any novelty value.