Delhi will be the biggest loser in Kejriwal's war with Modi, Jaitley

The relations between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-ruled Delhi government and BJP-led NDA government at the Centre were already tense and tenuous. The two governments have been squabbling over a host of issues. The CBI raid on Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's principal secretary Rajendra Kumar has had a spiralling effect, with the AAP launching a frontal attack on Union finance minister Arun Jaitley. The federal relations between the two governments have now deteriorated to the lowest level ever. This, in turn, will affect governance of the capital.

Before the governance issue is discussed, a quick glance at the reasons behind matters coming to this pass is warranted. Now, it is well established that the AAP has acquired expertise in shooting and scooting or, as some would also allege, in spitting and running. The AAP, in its earlier avatar as India Against Corruption (IAC), had indulged in character assassination of several ministers and corporate houses when the UPA was in power. All without solid proof, and only on the basis of newspaper reports. They have done it again, just that the targets have changed. Thus, AAP's credibility is really low on this score.

On December 17, they levelled a slew of allegations against finance minister Jaitley in the affairs of Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA), again without any concrete evidence of his personal involvement. The documents they furnished have already been in public domain. BJP MP and former cricketer Kirti Azad has already been levelling several of these allegations against Jaitley for a long time now. More or less, the AAP has repeated the same.

The timing of AAP's so-called expose is also suspect. They chose to address the media on DDCA affairs just two days after the CBI raided Kumar's office. They could have done it earlier too. But the attack on Jaitley is aimed at deflecting attention from the corruption charges against Kumar.

If the AAP is so confident of its allegations, it should file a complaint in the court. But it has never done so. During the IAC days, Kejriwal had levelled serious allegations of corruption against his predecessor Sheila Dikshit and the then chairman of CWG 2010 Suresh Kalmadi, but but did not take any action against them after becoming the Delhi chief minister.

Before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he had released a list of 27 alleged "beimaan" (dishonest) politicians such as Kapil Sibal, A Raja, Mayawati, Mulayam Singh Yadav, P Chidambaram, Jagan M Reddy, Kamal Nath, Sharad Pawar, Nitin Gadkari, Sushilkumar Shinde, Veerappa Moily, Pawan Bansal, Naveen Jindal, Shriprakash Jaiwal, B Yeddyurappa, Anurag Thakur, Tarun Gogoi, Anu Tandon, Salman Khurshid, Avtar Singh Bhadana, GK Vassan, HD Kumaraswamy, MK Alagiri, Praful Patel and Ananth Kumar. However, he did not produce a single document against them.

He had not spared even Pranab Mukherjee, who was the then Union finance minister and had been nominated by the Congress for the President's post. But to settle score with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who interacted with teachers and students on Teachers' Day eve this year, Kejriwal organised a lecture in political science by Mukherjee on the same day for students of class 11 and 12 of Dr Rajendra Prasad Sarvodaya Vidyalaya in the capital.

However, while others ignored Kejriwal's allegations, Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari filed a defamation suit against the Delhi chief minister who, after failing to prove his allegations, was arrested and sent to jail in May 2014. He finally reached a compromise with the Union minister in May 2015.

It has become Kejriwal and AAP's clever ploy to shoot into instant limelight, divert issues, cry victims and garner sympathy by calling the mighty and powerful names. The Delhi chief minister crossed all boundaries of decorum in public life and used highly objectionable adjectives of "coward" and "psychopath" against Modi the moment he learnt about the CBI raids in his secretariat. And now, he has sought to divert attention from the raids by targeting Jaitley.

Now, the question is how this will impact governance of the capital:

1. Full statehood to Delhi

The AAP had included full statehood to the capital in its manifesto for the Assembly elections. Kejriwal and deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia have been demanding the same from the NDA government. But with relations between the two governments at such a low, the Centre is unlikely to oblige the Delhi government on this issue.

2. Pollution

In a kneejerk reaction to the observation made by the Delhi High Court that air pollution levels in the capital have reached "alarming" proportions and it was akin to "living in a gas chamber", the Kejriwal government decided on December 4 to implement the odd-even formula for plying of cars on alternate days from January 1, 2016. The state government needs to take several other steps like increasing multifold the number of DTC buses and Metro coaches and buying vacuum cleaners for roads. For all this, the Kejriwal government will need Central assistance. A cordial relation between the two would have made the state government's job easier in getting the required funds.

3. Transfer and postings of bureaucrats

The Delhi government has been mired in controversy over transfer and posting of Central officers. It confronted lieutenant-general Najeeb Jung over the appointment of Shakuntala Gamlin as acting chief secretary of Delhi in May. Much to the chagrin of the Kejriwal government, the Centre wields control over the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) and posts Central officers according to its choice. The state government is already locked in a battle over Sanjiv Chaturvedi, an Indian Forest Service officer who was removed from the post of chief vigilance officer of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) last year.

While Kejriwal had requested the Centre to send him on deputation to the state soon after coming to power the second time on February 14, it has not materialised as yet. Kejriwal wants Chaturvedi, a deputy secretary in AIIMS, as his OSD (officer on special duty). The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), which stepped in, has given a deadline of January 5 to the Central government in this regard. In the days to come, the tussle over transfer and posting of Central officers is going to get murkier.

4. Law and order

Kejriwal has also been demanding control over the Delhi Police. With the Centre not in a mood to accede to his demand, the AAP government makes allegations against the Delhi Police and quite frequently even raises questions over the law and order situation in the state. It does not spare even the police commissioners, which surely has a demoralising effect on the force. This, in turn, may have an impact on the crime graph of the state.

5. Funds for schemes

The state governments are dependent on a large extent on the Union finance ministry for approval of funds for various schemes and special plans. Personal relations between the chief minister of a state and the prime minister or the finance minister helps in the timely release of funds. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee have been constantly cribbing about receiving a step-motherly treatment from the Centre. Having antagonised both the Modi and Jaitley, it would be more difficult for the Kejriwal government now to seek special privileges from the Centre.