Congress Upset With Lieutenant Governor For Letting Cornered Arvind Kejriwal Off The Hook

NEW DELHI: Lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung may be cornering credit for ending Arvind Kejriwal's dharna but sections of Congress seem to be unhappy with him for providing what they call an escape route to the Delhi chief minister when he had his back to the wall and the Centre could have twisted the knife.

Congress ranks feel Kejriwal was at his weakest during his latest mass protest, drawing criticism from people and press alike and without compensation in the form of crowds. His outbursts, use of "inelegant" language and making light of the Republic Day celebrations had all been seen as detrimental to his cause. After having been on a roll since he launched his agitation and then a breathtaking electoral debut, the plucky anti-graft crusader suddenly appeared to have boxed himself in with what was seen by many as a petulant protest.

However, just when he appeared to have been pinned down, the LG threw him a lifeline which a grateful Kejriwal grabbed with both hands, quickly going on to project as a triumph what was at best a face-saver. "We had him by his jugular when we allowed him to slip away. A good opportunity to corner him was lost because the matter was seen as a law and order issue rather than a political problem," said a source in the Congress familiar with the sense of regret in the higher echelons of the party over what they called "political mishandling".

On record, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala praised both the LG as well as home minister Sushilkumar Shinde for defusing the standoff with AAP with maturity and tact.

Significantly, a statement issued later by AICC general secretary Ajay Maken contradicted reports that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi was unhappy with Shinde. That, however, didn't leave people any wiser about Rahul's views on the LG's handling of the situation.

The nuance was seen as important against the backdrop of speculation that the new Congress boss made no secret of his disappointment when he reviewed the developments of the day with his colleagues late on Tuesday evening.

Sources explained that the LG committed the mistake of seeing the flexibility of AAP, which drastically scaled down its demand, as a breakthrough, losing sight of the opportunity that had suddenly emerged to nail the agitators.

Bereft of crowds and having to play a street protester and chief minister at once, Kejriwal climbed down from demanding handing over Delhi Police to Delhi government and settled for two police persons, one an SHO and another a sub-inspector with PCR, to be sent on leave.

Congress sources said while the LG must have felt happy that he had managed to get the agitators off the road for the cheapest price, he failed to recognize that Kejriwal, given the dire straits he was in, was only too happy to sneak through the escape route.

Significantly, the compromise formula, sugarcoated as an "appeal" to provide Kejriwal with a cover, came as a surprise even to officials in the home ministry who were dealing with the stalemate. Sources in the ministry said officials as well as Intelligence Bureau director Asif Ibrahim were in favour of stretching the battle of nerves in order to tire out the agitators. They were not fazed by the looming possibility of the dharna entering into Republic Day, and were prepared to hold the event by cordoning off the protest site.

The sense of regret appeared palpable on Wednesday when indications emerged that Kejriwal may like to repair his losses by implementing his plan to fast-track investigations into alleged corruption in Delhi Jal Board and the execution of schemes related to Commonwealth Games 2010. Both decisions can have serious implications for former CM Sheila Dikshit.

Congress sources agreed that the failure of the protest did not reflect a dip in Kejriwal's popularity in the constituencies he poached from Congress, but they drew considerable comfort from AAP's failure to mobilize crowds. AAP leaders had frantically sent SOS messages to people to march to North Block where the home ministry is headquartered, but to little avail. The supporters who propelled the greenhorns to a grand debut refused to march to ground zero even after its leaders screamed at the police for committing brutalities on "peaceful protesters".

This coupled with the fact that Kejriwal was seen as trivializing the sentiments attached to Republic Day suddenly seemed to have enhanced Congress's options versus the plucky rookie. Failure of the agitation would have deterred Kejriwal from hitting the streets yet again, besides denting his image among the groups he weaned away from Congress. "Alas, government failed to seize the moment," said a senior Congress source.