Arvind Kejriwal has started creating a new political narrative after being released on bail from Tihar Jail. He and his party have started saying that he has been framed in a false case and he has to answer this to the people of Delhi by winning the election. However, Kejriwal is not the first leader to say this. Earlier also many leaders protested their arrest by calling it a political conspiracy and won the election by gaining sympathy in that name.
But no leader has used the central government, central agencies and even the judiciary in such a planned manner to fulfill his political interests. Arvind Kejriwal has put the reputation of all the institutions of the country at stake in his political ambition. The political drama he is creating is a different matter but the attempt to erase the charges of criminal cases through electoral victory will give birth to a dangerous tradition.
Suppose what will happen if Aam Aadmi Party wins the assembly elections in February next year? Will the electoral victory absolve Kejriwal of the alleged scam in the liquor policy and the money laundering charges related to it? Will the central agencies be waiting for the results and will stop the investigation against Kejriwal as soon as the results are out? Will the electoral results affect the actions and decisions of the judiciary and the judges will say that the people of Delhi have made Kejriwal’s party win, so now there is no basis to prosecute him?
Keep in mind that Kejriwal and his party leaders are not saying that the people of Delhi should trust them and they will take care of the rest of the cases. It is also not being said that whatever be the result of the criminal case, if the people of Delhi are with them, they are ready to face that result. Instead, it is being said that the people of Delhi should make him win and foil the conspiracies of the BJP. This is the question that even if there is a conspiracy, how will it be foiled by the election result? Are they thinking that after winning the election, the BJP will be afraid of them and the central government will get all the cases cancelled by the central agencies?
History is a witness that except for a few exceptions, no leader has benefited from electoral victory in legal matters. It is said that paper does not die. Punishment is given even after years and decades. Lalu Prasad was accused of fodder scam in 1997. After that his party won the assembly elections of 2000 and RJD government was formed in Bihar. Then in 2005, Lalu Prasad’s party got a big victory in the Lok Sabha elections and he became the Railway Minister at the Centre.
Along with her, more than half a dozen MPs from her party became ministers at the centre. But what happened after that? After losing power at the centre in 2009, she was convicted in three cases related to the fodder scam one after the other and went to jail. Jayalalithaa’s cases and her government both continued simultaneously. While being the chief minister, she had to resign and go to jail twice. Even after several electoral victories, she and her close aide VK Sasikala were convicted.
She too kept saying that there was a conspiracy against her. Sukhram, who was a minister in Narasimha Rao’s government in the nineties, was convicted in a telecom scam after 16 years and had to go to jail. There are countless examples of leaders who kept winning elections and their cases kept going on simultaneously and they were convicted after a long time.
So, Kejriwal should also understand that electoral victory will not be the answer to the allegations against him. He will have to answer the allegations in the court only. The decision of the court of the people does not work in the court of law. Kejriwal’s number two leader Manish Sisodia has written a long post on social media saying, ‘Prime Minister Modi Ji hatched a very disgusting political conspiracy and made false allegations against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other AAP leaders. Sent them to jail. Questioned their integrity. Tried to break the government’. Now the question is that if questions have been raised on his integrity in the alleged scam in the liquor policy, will electoral victory restore his integrity?
Does this happen anywhere? Many leaders and their parties are still responding to allegations made decades ago, even though they have won elections many times since then. And as far as the misuse of government agencies is concerned, Kejriwal will also have a lot to answer for in that matter. His Punjab government got four ministers of the previous Congress government arrested and prosecuted after conducting a vigilance inquiry.
Congress is also accusing the Punjab government of conspiring to arrest its leaders. Many journalists who wrote against the government have been arrested in Punjab. The governor also expressed his displeasure with the government over the arrest of a journalist. It is good that Kejriwal does not have the police and vigilance in Delhi!
Another question is that what will happen if Kejriwal’s party does not win the elections? Will it be assumed that the people of Delhi have stamped Kejriwal as not honest? And after that there will be no need for hearing the cases in the court? Will the central agencies directly declare him a convict and send him to jail? This also does not happen.
It needs to be understood that if people who were accused win the elections, it does not mean that they are honest and now the agencies and judiciary should acquit them and if people who were accused lose the elections, it does not mean that the accused leader is dishonest and he should be punished without a hearing. It is fine to gain sympathy but it is not right to mix politics, elections, criminal cases, investigations by agencies, judicial action etc.