Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal officially does not have any portfolio allotted to him, although he is the Chief Minister of Delhi. The common joke was that he had been handed the Twitter ministry, on which his job was trolling opponents. Earlier this year we saw how Kejriwal had tried to troll Modi, but social media trolled him instead. Kejriwal tries to troll many political leaders, but rarely do they pay any attention to him. But this time it was different.
It all started with Capt Amrinder Singh of the Congress, tweeting this:
Kejriwal better set his own house in order, before he sets his sights on Punjab
— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) October 23, 2016
To this, Troll CM Kejriwal had this reply:
Sir, Badals closed corruption cases against u just a few months before elections. Why? Punjab asking what’s the deal? https://t.co/qJ0zLK8XeB
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 23, 2016
Most politicians back-off at this stage, since the adage goes that wrestling with a pig will make you dirty, and the pig happy. But Captain was in the mood for a “dangal”. He promptly questioned Kejriwal on his tall claims of jailing many people if he came to power:
You and your shoot and scoot politics!! Tell us how many of those who you accused before elections have been put behind bars till now? (1/2) https://t.co/kN1rOaTxD5
— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) October 23, 2016
Country is increasingly sick of your theatrics just to grab headlines! (2/2)
— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) October 23, 2016
A severely embarrassed Kejriwal sidestepped this question altogether, but he had to have the last word, hence diverted the topic to something else:
Sir, ppl talking in Punjab that u using Majithia’s drug money in ur campaign. Is it true? U had saved him from CBI enquiry 3 yrs back https://t.co/RysiDptHT4
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 24, 2016
But Captain was not about to give up:
When your hopes crash from 100 to 30 & still sliding,you’re bound to hallucinate & see things that don’t exist.आपको दिन में तारे दिख रहे हैं https://t.co/e9yfDIrBd4
— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) October 24, 2016
And with this next tweet, he challenged Kejriwal for an open debate:
Now that you’ve shot your mouth, don’t scoot like you typically do!Show courage & come for an open debate. Choose the time, place & platform https://t.co/e9yfDIrBd4
— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) October 24, 2016
And Kejriwal accepted the challenge! But with conditions!! He didn’t accept the debate challenge for himself, but on behalf of four of his party members. He claimed that any of the four would come to debate with Captain!
I accept ur challenge sir. I suggest 4 names- H S Phoolka, Jarnail Singh, Bhagwant or Gurpreet. Speaker, date, time, place of ur choice https://t.co/lYrOMgEET3
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 24, 2016
And that was the full toss Captain was waiting for:
Punjabis believe in leading from the front,not hiding behind others.Or have you already accepted that you can’t face me for a public debate? https://t.co/PV8jvsG9EH
— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) October 24, 2016
No sooner did this happen, Twitter exploded and exposed Kejriwal’s dual standards. In his pre-CM days, Kejriwal would keep challenging opponents to debates and claim victory when they refused to come:
.@thekiranbedi congrats 4 being nominated as BJP’s CM candidate. I invite u 4 a public debate moderated by neutral person n telecast by all
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 20, 2015
Why kiran ji running away from debate? She is busy but surely she can take out 2 hrs from busy schedule. Ppl want 2 know her stand on issues
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 21, 2015
Kiran ji saying she wud debate after elections in assembly. She refuses to debate before elections saying she believes in delivery(1/2)
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 21, 2015
I invited Mrs Sheila Dikshit for an open debate. She refused…..
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 27, 2013
I invite her again 4 public debate at place n time of her choice. Why is she running away from public debate?
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 9, 2013
I request Mr Digvijay to encourage Mrs Gandhi, PM or Mr Rahul Gandhi to come for a public debate
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 21, 2012
Finally Kejriwal replied, but by that time the damage was done:
I am not hiding behind anyone sir. I am ready for a debate with Rahul ji or Sonia ji anytime. Our punjab team will debate wid u. https://t.co/EeSqHHZLss
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 24, 2016
Even after this tweet, people reminded him of his multiple logical fallacies:
Why Rahulji and Soniaji? Are they part of Delhi Congress team? Or you consider yourself the PM candidate only, leaving Delhi amid troubles https://t.co/eMY2mHIzQJ
— Aladdin (@Alllahdin) October 24, 2016
Hahaha Punjab team will debate with @capt_amarinder , while Delhi state leader @ArvindKejriwal wants to debate Congress national leaders ! pic.twitter.com/H2VV3aseG7
— Jaini (@manichejain) October 24, 2016
Bus karo sir, jitna muh khol rahe ho utni jyada beijjatti ho rahi hai. https://t.co/uYHHy8FB6m
— AJ – धोनीटार्ड (@DarrKeAage) October 24, 2016
And even as this was unravelling, the Indian Express came to Kejriwal’s rescue to spin the episode as “Kejriwal accepts challenge”:
.@ArvindKejriwal accepts @capt_amarinder challenge for open debate, says ‘choose place and time of your choice’ https://t.co/N1CRTJxALv pic.twitter.com/FDKHRY208A
— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) October 24, 2016
(Tweets updated till time of posting)
Update: Captain has hit back:
So you’ve chickened out!You’re the’Aam Aadmi’ who levels allegations on everyone bt wud like to engage only with PM & Presidents of parties! https://t.co/YNBR7T7XNM
— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) October 24, 2016
सर, अच्छा होता आप हमारी पंजाब टीम से debate को तैयार हो जाते। ख़ैर, आपकी मर्ज़ी। पर सर, सारी BJP की फ़ौज आपको क्यों defend कर रही है? https://t.co/lMcudF31O9
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 24, 2016
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Morning you started with Majithia,now you're bringing in BJP,next you'll say Donald Trump is conspiring with me against you. https://t.co/jiK22ycMQD
— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) October 24, 2016
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