Once in a baffling blue moon comes along an impenetrable individual, whose sole ideology is himself. Arvind Kejriwal, the bespectacled enfant terrible of Delhi, wearing a trademark check shirt one size too large, and sporting a wispy mustache above a deviously diffident smile, is one such patented phenomenon: a neta without ideology, whisky without alcohol.
However, the hangover in the political cocktail that landed him in Tihar jail seems to be dissipating as he strategises his big comeback. He has placed Atishi as his trusted timeshare trainee in the CM's chair and scrambled back on ye olde platform: an underdog as the top dog. He is back with a bark and a bite, with aggression directed at Narendra Modi and the Congress. Hatred unites with irony-both Modi and Kejrwial are the lone mass mobilisers and vote catchers for their parties.
Kejriwal's political quest after finding Anna Hazare was to find himself. He obviously liked what he found, because there wasn't anything else there except Kejriwal. The histrionically high octaves about victimhood, the unfurling of the besmirched flag of uprightness, and donning the cap of the neo freedom fighter with an anagram. He took it all, every conscience-cliché, political meme and historical pastiche and wove it all into one ballot basketthe messiah whose welfarism was but an Indira Gandhi trope.
No talk of making Delhi a multi-trillion economy. No chatter about AI and technology. Kejriwal uses the exhortation of self identity by seeking a mass covenant of rhetorical legerdemain: choose a leader who lives, eats, breathes and dresses like you. Choose one of you, for you. After the new genre of Modi hhakts made landfall in 2014, Kejriwal lahs are a new class of electors who cut across castes and communities. It is an army of Kejriwallahs who trounced the Modi machine in the last two assembly elections in Delhi and one in Punjab.
Bu hikaye The Morning Standard dergisinin September 22, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye The Morning Standard dergisinin September 22, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
DEEP IMPACT IN RAINY AFFAIR
Pacer's twin strikes reduces B'desh to 107/3 in 35 overs before play was called off due to incessant rain on Day 1 A COUPLE of days before the second Test between India and Bangladesh here at the Green Park Stadium, Akash Deep, India's latest addition to its evergrowing pace battery, spoke about skipper Rohit Sharma explaining how supportive the latter has been to the bowler.
Resting and a bit of training: Gukesh's plan ahead of Ding clash
EVER since India won twin golds (Open and women's teams) at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, the players of both sides have been basking in the richlydeserved adulation.
Oz all-rounder Green doubtful for India Tests
AUSTRALIAN all-rounder Cameron Green's participation in the upcoming marquee five-match Test series against fierce rivals India was on Friday thrown into doubt after a back injury ruled him out of the ongoing tour of England.
B'desh superfan alleges thrashing, does U-turn later
A BANGLADESH superfan, Tiger Robi, who usually accompanies the team on its away tours, was allegedly beaten up on Day 1 of the second Test between India and Bangladesh here at the Green Park Stadium, Kanpur on Friday.
ISL: Herrara hat-trick hands FC Goa first win of season
FC GOA secured their first win of their Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 campaign as they edged past East Bengal 3-2 at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata tonight.
India not to buy LNG from Russia Arctic 2 project: Secretary
INDIA has decided not to purchase liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia's Arctic LNG 2 project, which is under Western sanctions, said petroleum and natural gas Secretary Pankaj Jain on Friday.
Forex reserves near $700 bn, add $101.5 bn YTD
CONTINUING the gains for the sixth consecutive week, forex reserves have rallied to hit new high of $692.3 billion for the week to September 20, adding $2.84 billion in the reporting week, taking the total in the past six weeks to $22.14 billion and a $101.56 billion year-on-year.
Gold rises 29% so far this yr, may soar to ₹8,000/g by December
BULLION price continued to sizzle for the third day on the back of global rally that began since the Ukraine war and has gained an unprecedented speed since the US Federal Reserves cut the interest by 50 bps-first time in four years.
FPI inflows surge to ₹57K cr in Sept, half of CY24's total
BUOYED by the expectation and clarity of US Federal Reserves' rate cut decision, foreign portfolio investors (FPI) bought shares (net purchase) of ₹57,359 crore so far in September.
‘India to set up tel gear mfg zones'
Scindia says country wants to become the global telecommunication manufacturing hub