Centre backs off after HC ruling: 'Anarchist' and 'immature' Kejriwal may win this battle

Anarchist, megalomaniac, immature, urban Maoist, dictator, bhagoda – Arvind Kejriwal has been called all this, and he has survived. Media experts, whose approach towards the man who could well have ‘confrontation’ as his middle name ranges from the condescending to the patronizing, must think of more intelligent descriptors for him. Still better, they should go beyond frivolously reductionist, often politically tainted, view of the man to understand the method behind his apparent madness. [caption id=“attachment_2264732” align=“alignleft” width=“380” class=" “]  Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal at a public rally. PTI[/caption] As the Kejriwal-led Delhi government decides to take its demand for more power to the state to a fresh flashpoint today – on Tuesday the assembly took a serious view of the notification of the Ministry of Home Affairs asserting the supremacy of the Lieutenant Governor in executive matters and even sought powers to impeach the latter – one thing is clear: the government would not blink first in the eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation with the Union government. It’s quintessential Kejriwal. He does not give up and he has the ability to sustain through ugly confrontations against forces much bigger than him. His track record over the last three years - from the anti-corruption movement days to his capturing power in Delhi – is testimony to his tenacity. Now that both sides have hardened their positions, it’s futile to discuss personalities and the series of tit-for-tat action they have indulged in of late. It’s better to discuss the core issue. It’s a battle between two visions of Delhi: one, the status quoist, and the other, of change. The first one is about inertia while the other is about movement. The central question is whether Delhi should change and how. This question has been implicit in the demand for full statehood from all parties but none of them had the courage or conviction to take it to a point where it is even discussed. Kejriwal has set the ball rolling in his own trademark style. There is no point overstating the importance of Delhi to the country, probably every school kid is aware of it by now. The fact is despite being run by two sets of government it is a poorly managed place. While it has its own governance issues it does not help that the National Capital Territory region stretches into other states such as Uttar Pradesh and Haryana too. The challenges are much different now compared to the period when the constitutional provision regarding it was prepared. The biggest victim of this is policing. Logically, it should be time to have a re-look at and upgrade the earlier arrangement. Given the growth of the city, demographic and otherwise, the Union government cannot keep treating it as a municipal council. For Delhi to be governed better there has to be better coordination and distribution of power between the two governments. You have valid points, but why cannot you put your point across in a, well, more civilized way? Why not negotiate, why this game of brinkmanship? This has been often been the question put to Kejriwal by experts. It is both condescending and patronizing, and it reeks of pretentiousness. Confrontation, one likes it or not, has always been a valid, and effective, tool of messaging. Kejriwal has proved it again and again in the last three years. Negotiations cannot happen when one of the parties is in a clear position of weakness. That is the reason he unabashedly flaunts his street power, and now power in the assembly, to make his point. This is one of the oldest tricks in democracy. Narendra Modi resorted to it during his journey from Gujarat to Delhi. Kejriwal realizes that so long as he has people on his side critics and powerful political adversaries do not matter. In 100 days in power he has done enough to keep his core constituency satisfied. Forget the criticism that 20,000 litres of free water and power at half-price are bad economics. The truth is he is the only politician from Delhi who is relevant. If his rivals have been reduced to political pygmies, give it to his sharp political acumen. There’s a method to his actions, and his madness has a purpose. It should end in a result. Others can call him anarchist, dictator, whatever – it hardly matters.