Wharton's withdrawal of Modi's invitation was 'very wrong': Kejriwal

New Delhi: Aam Admi Party convener Arvind Kerjiwal expressed his displeasure over Wharton India Economic Forum (WIFE) cancelling the speech of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi earlier this month. The social activist turned politician delivered the keynote in the panel ‘government and policy’ via video conferencing from a hotel in Delhi near the location of his indefinite fast which began on Saturday. Kejriwal began his WIFE lecture with the issue of cancellation of Modi’s invitation to speak at this forum- a topic he described as “something that is troubling me.” [caption id=“attachment_673011” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Kejriwal then explained why he decided to take the political plunge. AP[/caption] WIEF had invited Modi to deliver a keynote. But it was cancelled due to pressure from a section of students at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. When institution approached Kerjiwal, there was speculation he was Modi’s replacement. However, it turned out that the Wharton School’s invitation to Kejriwal was dated seven days before Modi’s speech was cancelled at the forum. http://www.firstpost.com/politics/kejriwal-not-replacing-modi-at-wharton-had-received-invite-earlier-648699.html On Saturday, Kejriwal said he is not a supporter of Modi and disagree with him on many things . But his unease was on three counts, he said. “Firstly, to issue an invitation and then cancel it under pressure is not right. It is very wrong. It is unbecoming of an institution carrying the respected Wharton name. Secondly, those who refuse to listen to people they do not agree with, they lose an opportunity to learn and grow. Thirdly, this refusal to let him speak goes against the very principles of free speech we are all fighting for.” Kejriwal then explained why he decided to take the political plunge. It was necessary for him to enter politics, he said, as no political party seemed interested in passing a strong anti- corruption bill. “We realized that nothing would change unless good and honest people entered the state assemblies and the Parliament. We realised that nothing would change unless the politics of this country were cleansed,” he said. He neither opposed nor supported outsourcing of crucial services such as health and education to the private sector. Handing over these services to private players could be good or bad depending on the  government’s ability to monitor the functioning of the projects run by these companies, he said. “If you have good governance, you would get good services, whether they are in private sector or government sector. And if you have a corrupt government, you would get bad services whether it is in government or private sector.” Since the Jan Lokpal agitation, Kejriwal’s anti- corporate rhetoric has created an impression of him being a Leftist. He rebuffed the criticism. “Let me tell you categorically we are neither capitalists nor leftists. We are common people – aam aadmi. We have our problems. If we find a solution to a problem in Left, we do not hesitate to borrow it from there and if we find a solution in capitalism, we are more than happy to take it from there. We are interested in solutions, not ideologies,” he said. “Trickle‐down theory has miserably failed. Government’s policies ought to alter drastically. Development should be such that it simultaneously touches and enriches every section of society,” he added.