New Delhi: Even as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) continues to firefight the fall out of its chief Arvind Kejriwal's tame and uncharacteristic apology to former Akali Dal minister Bikram Majithia, the Delhi CM on Monday apologised to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.
“I have nothing personal against you. I regret the same. Let us put the incident behind us and bring the court proceedings to a closure. I suggest we should put our energy to serve the people of this country," wrote Kejriwal to Gadkari.
A similar letter of apology has also been submitted in the defamation case filed by Amit Sibal while a few more of such letters are expected in the future.
The AAP leader seems to be in a hurry to close these cases at one go. The party, sources say, is aiming to reduce the list of 33 cases in 22 courts to zero by the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
This marks a tectonic shift in Kejriwal's politics, as well as image. Known for his “angry” image — a common man, unafraid of taking on the who's who of politics and business, despite the threat of defamation cases.
In fact, he had moved the Supreme Court to quash the defamation case filed by Gadkari and had chosen to go to jail for refusing to furnish a bail bond. Kejriwal had filed an application in the SC asking for defamation to be decriminalised. This is something that even Congress president Rahul Gandhi and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had filed applications for. A conviction in a criminal defamation case entails a jail term of up to two years.
His controversial politics appealed to the stunned common man, who saw him shattering the omerta code of silence surrounding top guns. However, critics attacked Kejriwal for “character assassination” and “shoot-and-scoot” politics.
Almost five years down the line, Kejriwal has chosen to uncharacteristically apologise and settle cases “amicably” out of court.
One reason being given by his legal team is that the sheer number of cases and dates on which have to be fought do not let the CM concentrate on his work.
Take a look at the AAP leader’s schedule of cases: Between March 3 and April 10, Kejriwal has 11 hearings on 11 different dates. Out of this, there are two hearings on March 5, 15, 17 and 31, while three hearings are scheduled for March 23.
The AAP’s lack of resources, financial as well as legal, is another strong reason for this approach.
It had reached a point where the party while scouting for a Rajya Sabha candidate, was on the lookout for a legal luminary, who could fight the various cases that Kejriwal and others are battling. However, the party failed to find any.
From the days of the Jan Lokpal struggle, the AAP leader had activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan and his father Shanti Bhushan providing the legal firepower needed to shield him. In 2015, though, Bhushan was unceremoniously ousted from the party.
Kejriwal’s pragmatism may come at a great cost to his credibility. As former J&K CM Omar Abdullah tweeted, “Arvind Kejriwal will certainly have less legal problems when he is done apologising but at what political cost? What will his audience think the next time he levels an allegation against someone? (sic)”
In Punjab, for instance, can the AAP hope for a reasonable show after the apology to Majithia?
Deputy CM Manish Sisodia played down the apologies. “We are not here to waste our time in courts. We are here to work for the people. It is not a matter of ego. If someone is hurt by our comments, we will apologise,” said the minister, indicating that the season of apology was here to stay.
Comments
0 comment