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EPISODE – XXVI
TOPIC: PM a ‘psycho’? Kejriwal, you’ve just scored another self-goal
BLOG: The Times of India
WRITER: Shobhaa De
GENRE: Opinion
READ BEFORE YOU PROCEED:
D2G wears no responsibility of the views published here by the respective Author. This Editorial is used here for Study Purpose. Students are advised to learn the word-meaning, The Art of Writing Skills and understand the crux of this Editorial.
MEANINGS are given in BOLD and ITALIC
Arvind Kejriwal is at it again. There are two people in present-day politics who seem hell-bent (If you say that someone is hell-bent on doing something, you are emphasizing that they are determined to do it, even if this causes problems or difficulties for other people.) on committing career harakiri (In former times, if a Japanese man committed hara-kiri, he killed himself by cutting his own stomach open, in order to avoid dishonour.) — our very own Muffler Man in Dilli and Combover Trump (If you trump what someone has said or done, you beat it by saying or doing something else that seems better.) in Amrika. There’s either something seriously wrong with both these chaps… or something horribly right! Perhaps they know the pulse of their loyal constituency far better than the pundits. They say the most outrageous things…phir bhi! In Arvind’s case, he behaves like a cornered kid when faced with the obvious. Take Rajendra Kumar — Kejriwal’s principal secretary who stands accused of ‘large-scale corrupt practices between 2007 and 2014′. Either Kejriwal lives in a bubble and has zero idea about the financial fiddles (If you fiddle with something, you change it in minor ways.) of a close aide, or he is acting.
A valid question was asked in the wake of Arvind’s catchy “Rajendra Kumar bahana hai, Kejriwal nishana hai” dialogue, to which he had no response. A senior politician wondered on national television: “Has Arvind not heard of due diligence?” Did Kejriwal not examine Kumar’s track record before appointing him principal secretary? Rajendra Kumar, with his impressive academic credentials, was given the Prime Minister’s award for excellence. Well, he may have proved his excellence — at bending the rules.
Regardless of the ‘nishana’, someone needs to remind Arvind Kejriwal that he is a chief minister now, and not a rowdy rabble (A rabble is a crowd of noisy people who seem likely to cause trouble.) rouser or street fighter. When he overreacted to the CBI raids at the secretariat office of Rajendra Kumar, he disgraced himself and his position. No matter what the provocation, he should never have called India’s PM Narendra Modi a ‘coward’ and a ‘psychopath’. These two words will haunt Kejriwal for a long time to come. They demean (degrade) him far more than they insult Modi. Whatever Kejriwal’s personal animosities (hostility), he must remember he insulted the office of the Prime Minister of our country. Not everybody loves and admires Modi. That’s fine. But for Kejriwal to label him in this crude and cheap manner is to lower his own self-respect. It’s one of those horrible self-goals that Kejriwal specializes in. For all his other qualities (he does have a few!), it is these impetuous (rash) and immature outbursts that cost him a great deal, and negate most other achievements.
India is used to corrupt bureaucrats. We are also used to corrupt politicians and police personnel. This is how it has been for decades. Which is why nobody was taken aback by the recent raids or revelations. Most people shrugged, (If you shrug, you raise your shoulders to show that you are not interested in something or that you do not know or care about something.) “Oh well… theek hai… one more babu caught with his pants down and his hands in the till.” Bureaucrats have run circles around even the shrewdest (A shrewd person is able to understand and judge a situation quickly and to use this understanding to their own advantage.) politicians for years — and won every round! Look at their biggest advantage — they have dope on everyone. They are privy to deep, dark secrets. They can throw a lifeboat to a drowning neta or let him drown. Politicians are terrified of these babus. Without a few good babus on their side, politicians are paralyzed… they cannot function. And Rajendra Kumar certainly sounds like he was Arvind’s right and left arm, with eyes and ears everywhere.
Unless the system changes dramatically, and there are far better checks and balances in place, babus will continue to take advantage of their privileged positions. So many newbie netas these days are totally ignorant of government procedures and functioning. They depend on loyal babus to guide them. In the process, babus become de facto (De facto is used to indicate that something is a particular thing, even though it was not planned or intended to be that thing. ) netas themselves. Files are stuck under the boss’s nose and if the boss is a dumbo, he signs on the dotted line. It really is that simple! So long as nobody gets caught, nobody gets hurt. Rajendra Kumar got caught. And when Kumar got caught, Kejriwal also got caught (on the wrong foot). Now what?
The intricately (not simple) woven webs of deceit (Deceit is behaviour that is deliberately intended to make people believe something which is not true.) trap the politically naive and unwary (If you describe someone as unwary, you mean that they are not cautious or experienced and are therefore likely to be harmed or deceived.). Let us concede for a moment that Arvind Kejriwal had no idea so much ‘setting’ was taking place under his nose… and in his backyard. Perhaps, sweet, trusting Arvind was far too busy sorting out the odd-and-even number plates of cars to scrutinise the mega wheeling and dealing going on in the next room. But now that it is out there, Arvind should let the CBI do its job. Rajendra Kumar is a big boy. He can handle himself. He hasn’t been a principal secretary for nothing. Vendetta (revenge) be damned, the most important question remains: is Kejriwal’s trusted aide corrupt or not? Kejriwal calling the Prime Minister names is certainly not going to save Kumar’s butt. Arun Jaitley has given a measured rebuttal (If you make a rebuttal of a charge or accusation that has been made against you, you make a statement which gives reasons why the accusation is untrue. ) to AAP’s allegations of DDCA corruption under his watch. That’s how seasoned politicians deflect charges, Arvind ji. Seekh lo!
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