Arvind Kejriwal, the current chief minister of Delhi, gained national fame via his anti-corruption activism where he along with Anna Hazare spearheaded the India Against Corruption campaign.
During that time, and even after launching his Aam Aadmi Party, Kejriwal cultivated a common man image in order to take on the “high and mighty” of the Indian political scene. Back then, a common modus operandi of his was levelling a barrage of allegations against those at the power. Such a high octane attack though wasn’t always followed by action and his antics soon became labelled as “shoot and scoot” politics.
One of the persons at the receiving end of Kejriwal’s allegations was former Finance Minister and noted lawyer P Chidambaram. Kejriwal in a variety of tweets dating back to 2012 alleged that not just Chidambaram but also his wife was corrupt and that they will go to jail:
Chidambaram, Salman Khurshid and Sibbal to grant autonomy to CBI? Some kind of a joke? All three facing serious corruption charges….
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 14, 2013
Real reason is that Chidambaram is behind denial. He is one of 15 corrupt min. He will never allow permission. Anshan is agnst these 15 min
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) July 5, 2012
…Mrs Khurshid and Mrs Chidambaram also facing charges. If CBI becomes independent, all 3 will go to jail. Their wives will go to jail
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 14, 2013
Come 2017, it seems Kejriwal’s perception of Chidambaram has changed a lot. Now not only is Kejriwal not following up on his corruption allegations, he has also decided to seek his legal help to try and win Delhi government’s feud against the Modi government.
As per reports, the Kejriwal government in Delhi has roped in P Chidambaram to fight its case against the centre in the Supreme Court. The petition in the Supreme Court was filed by the Kejriwal government, after it suffered a setback in 2016, when the Delhi High Court ruled that, the Lieutenant Governor (LG) is the administrative head of National Capital Territory of Delhi and he is not required to act on the advice of the Delhi Cabinet. Such a tug of war between the LG and the Kejriwal government is going on ever since it came to power.
After coming on board, Chidambaram has become one of the 9 lawyers who will argue the case before a 5 judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court, on behalf of the Delhi government.
Such an appointment by the Kejriwal government seems to have amused Congress leaders the most, who didn’t shy away from taking potshots at Kejriwal:
‘Kejriwal has finally fallen onto the feet of Chidambaram: Ajay Maken’https://t.co/Yoo18CU1k8 via @indiatoday
— Ajay Maken (@ajaymaken) November 4, 2017
After calling Mr.Chidambaram most corrupt & anti-people, shameless AAP wants 2 avail his services! Did @ArvindKejriwal go 2 brief him? pic.twitter.com/IUOLBEPi0C
— Sharmistha Mukherjee (@Sharmistha_GK) November 3, 2017
Its certainly interesting to see that Kejriwal who once questioned the ethics of P Chidambaram has decided to put his trust in him when it comes to a very important legal matter involving his government. Also now that Kejriwal and and Chidambaram will have to interact on a daily basis, would the former delete his tweets attacking the latter and maybe even apologise for them so as to reduce any form of awkwardness between them?
Let’s wait and watch…
