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Kejriwal A Dangerous Idea: No Establishment Will Let Him Survive

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Kejriwal A Dangerous Idea: No Establishment Will Let Him Survive

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]This visceral hatred for Kejriwal in the media remains something of a puzzle

By Saeed Naqvi

The wag has a point. The 2017 Delhi Municipal Corporation elections, we are being persistently reminded, were won by the BJP handsomely because of a single factor: a Modi wave. Fair enough. But the BJP won the two previous Delhi Municipal elections also. Who generated the waves then?

The anchors were hopping on their seats in orgasmic ecstasy. “Kejriwal routed, Kejriwal routed”. One of them, his mouth protruding like he was about to burst a gole-guppa, thrust his three fingers forward in a gesture of uncontrollable excitement. “Kejriwal is coming third; Kejriwal is third.”

As it turned out Kejriwal was not third. He came second with 48 seats. Third was Congress with 30 seats. BJP, ofcourse, was way ahead of either with 181 of the 270 seats contested.

Terms like “routed”, “swept away”, finished”, “buried”, “destroyed”, “crushed”, “smashed” were used for Kejriwal with such relish that one wondered what words would be pulled out from the Thesaurus for the Congress which had actually come third. Moreover, how can Kejriwal and AAP be“swept away” from the MCD where they never were. Yes, Congress was annihilated, but the anchors seemed uncomfortable with that reality. They would register that detail in tones of unbelievable politeness.

This visceral hatred for Kejriwal in the media remains something of a puzzle for me. Having been a pen pusher and TV anchor for decades, I cannot for the life of me understand “hatred” as an ingredient in a journalist’s make up. In journalism, as in diplomacy, the cardinal principal always was to keep ones balance.

The high decibel, partisan hysteria which is the staple at all prime time discussions these days, takes ones breathe away: the anchor shouts at inconvenient panelists and hands lollipops to BJP spokespersons.

I hesitate to lay all the blame at the door of journalists who man today’s media. They operate in a particular system of media ownership: he who pays the piper calls the tune.

Circumstances were not dissimilar a few decades ago. A proprietor in the classical mould, Ramnath Goenka, for instance, had abiding political interests. He, along with the RSS’s Nanaji Deshmukh, was one of the architects of what came to be known as JP’s Bihar movement. Subsequently he had a proprietary interest in the Morarji Desai-led Janata Government. But keeping these facts in mind, the paper’s policy was enunciated by the powerful editor S. Mulgaonkar. There was credibility in the filtration process. The presentation was plausible.

It is not for a moment suggested that Kejriwal is God’s gift to Indian politics, but he has been quite unambiguous in his opposition to corporate power, xenophobia, communalism and a general militarism. Surely this should be to his credit.

Little wonder none of this registers with the media which came into being in the wake of economic liberalization and accelerated globalization. It was designed to carry advertising which the neo liberal economic policies would boost. A media in the image of Rupert Murdoch became a vogue. This Murdochized media was placed supinely in the service of crony capitalism which reveled in the two-party systems. Whichever party came on top was owned by corporates. I have personal knowledge of even the mainstream Left having its hands in the same till. Rampaging corruption enveloped regimes in Greece, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, US, Indonesia, India, Pakistan – any country boasting of an electoral democracy.

A suffocated electorate began to break out of the two party strait jacket. The Left surfaced in countries where economic issues dominated – Syriza and Podemos, both communist parties, in Greece and Spain, for instance. Islamophobia and anti immigrant xenophobia were fuelled in Societies fearful of the biggest migration in history from West Asia and North Africa following America’s 9/11 wars. Marine Le Pen is the direct consequence of such fears.

The post Soviet global establishment, with the US as its central column, weakened considerably after the 2008 economic meltdown. But it is resilient enough to fight and contain the two extremities. The formula is simple: where possible, a right-of-centre formation should be supported. But in a situation where extreme Left is in competition with the extreme Right, it is the Right which will obtain the vote of confidence. In other words, xenophobia and racism are preferable to anti austerity politics.

In the recent French campaign, the Communist Jean-Luc Mélenchon surged ahead of most other candidates. Supposing the run-off on May 7 were between Le Pen and Mélenchon, the establishment would have thrown its full weight behind Le Pen. She would have won. But Emmanuel Macron is a crafty candidate of the establishment in disguise: his En Marche! (March ahead) party is brand new and yet as a former banker he is nothing if not the establishment.

Kejriwal’s strength and weakness derive from the same fact. He is truly anti establishment. It was extremely audacious of him to stand on that kind of a platform. The result is there for all to see. He stunned the nation winning 67 of 70 seats in the 2015 Delhi elections. He stood out all the more because his extraordinary success came within months of Modi’s victory. He alarmed the establishment, Modi, BJP, Congress, Lt. Governor, Police Commissioner and, above all, the corporate media. Kejriwal, unchecked, was a dangerous idea. He had to be waylaid at every turn. He must be politically exterminated.

Providing free water and cheap electricity, mohalla clinics to Delhi’s poor despite his hands having been tied behind his back, is no mean achievement. A fearful Congress and the Akali-BJP combine ganged up against him in Punjab but he came second, ahead of the Akali-BJP.

True, he does not have the please all skills of a Macron. It therefore remains something of a pity that a duplicitous outreach in multiple directions has to be placed in the category of a virtue for success in today’s politics.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Delhi news

On Camera: Delhi man stabs girl multiple times in Mukherjee Nagar, arrested

The incident was captured on CCTV and has been shared widely on the internet.

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In a shocking incident, a man from Delhi was arrested on Sunday for stabbing a girl multiple times with a knife in the Mukherjee Nagar area in broad daylight. The incident was captured on CCTV and has been shared widely on the internet.

According to reports, the incident took place on March 22. The passers-by intervened and tried to stop and catch the accused. Although, the girl did not suffer grievous injuries in this attack and is out of danger.

The police have identified the accused as Aman. In the CCTV footage, the 22-year-old could be seen stabbing the girl with the knife several times.

It has been known that students in Mukherjee Nagar used to make fun of the accused, Aman, and call him mentally ill as he used to keep roaming in the area, without doing anything.

The woman he targeted would visit Mukherjee Nagar to study in a library. In the surveillance video, the man can be observed sprinting towards the woman, forcefully knocking her down, and subsequently striking her several times.

The man who is under arrest told the police that she ridiculed him, causing him to take a knife from a nearby vegetable vendor and launch an attack on her in a fit of rage.

Last year in April, another incident was reported from Northeast Delhi’s Karawal Nagar where a man killed his live-in partner and dumped her body 12 lm away from a house with the help of his sister.

Police, later, found the body of Rohina Naz alias Mahi, a resident of Uttarakhand’s Mirajpur, lying near Krishna Public School. The police arrested the sister of the accused in this case.

According to the police, the accused, identified as Vineet, was on the run while his sister Parul was arrested for helping him conspire the murder and hide the body.

The 25-year-old Mahi and Vineet eloped four years ago the date of the crime and were living together in Delhi. Deputy Commissioner of Police Joy Tirkey had said that Mahi was pressuring him for marriage and because of this, the couple used to fight frequently.

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Delhi news

Delhi Metro services to begin at 2:30 pm on Holi

Delhi metro services will not be available till 2:30 pm on all Lines of the Delhi Metro including Rapid Metro/Airport Express Line.

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Delhi Metro services will begin at 2:30 pm from terminal stations on all lines on the occasion of Holi, March 25, and will continue normally thereafter.

The Delhi Metro on X, said that the metro train services to start at 2:30 pm on the day of the Holi festival, March 25 (Monday), adding that it said metro services will not be available till 2:30 pm on all Lines of the Delhi Metro including Rapid Metro/Airport Express Line.

Earlier on March 14, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of two additional corridors of Delhi Metro’s Phase 4 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Thursday. The cost of these 2 corridors of the Delhi Metro Phase 4 project is Rs 8,399 crore. These 2 lines will be 20.762 km long. The construction of these projects is slated for completion by March 2026.

During the press release, the government said that the Inderlok- Indraprastha corridor will be an extension of the Green Line and will provide interchange with the Blue, Violet, Magenta and Airport Line, Yellow and Red lines, while the Lajpat Nagar- Saket G Block corridor will connect Violet, Pink, Magenta and Silver lines.

Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar- Saket G Block corridor will be entirely elevated and have 8 stations, as per the reports. The Inderlok- Indraprastha corridor will have 10 stations. The Prime Minister also interacted with beneficiaries of the PM SVANidhi scheme. He distributed loans under the scheme to 1 lakh street vendors (SVs) including 5000 SVs from Delhi.

According to official records, till now up to Rs 82 lakh loans which amount to Rs 10, 978 crore have been disbursed to more than 62 lakh street vendors all over India. Speaking to the media at the event earlier, the Prime Minister said that the program PM SVANidhi Mahotsav was dedicated to those who are always around us and without whom one cannot imagine our lives.

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Delhi news

7 BJP MLAs suspended from Delhi Assembly’s Budget session for interrupting LG’s address

Pandey said that such behaviour by the BJP MLAs amounted to lowering the dignity of the House.

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Seven out of eight Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) were suspended on Friday for the remainder of the Budget session of the Delhi Assembly for allegedly interrupting Lieutenant Governor (LG) VK Saxena’s address.

On Thursday, they were marshalled out of the House for their unruly behaviour. According to the reports, the seven BJP MLAs were interrupting Governor Saxena during his address to the House as they sought to attack the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led-AAP government.

Taking cognisance of the matter, the Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel sent the matter of disruption to the Privileges Committee.

On the second day of the session, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Dilip Kumar Pandey and the party convenor Kejriwal whip in the Assembly. Pandey pointed out the disruption made by the BJP MLAs during the LG’s speech, he said MLAs have disrupted Saxena’s address marking the opening of the budget session at least eight times. He further said that such behaviour by the BJP MLAs amounted to lowering the dignity of the House.

AAP MLA Pandey, later moved a proposal that the matter be referred to the Delhi Assembly Privileges Committee, demanding the suspension of the seven BJP MLAs from the proceedings of the House, until the panel decides on the matter. Through a voice vote, the proposal was passed.

Despite several warnings from the Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, BJP Vijender Gupta interrupted Saxena while he was citing the AAP’s achievements. Following this, the Speaker asked the House marshals to take Gupta out.

Later, when LG Saxena began his address, other leaders from the BJP party continued disrupting him as Saxena cited several Kejriwal government’s achievements.

After all this, the BJP MLAs defied the Goel and refrained from interrupting the Saxena’s address, to which the Speaker had to ask the marshals to take them out of the House too.

The House suspended seven BJP MLAs out of eight, the Leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri was not suspended, however, he walked out with other suspended BJP leaders in protest against the decision of the House to suspend its MLAs.

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