Will the Swati Maliwal stain sink Kejriwal?

Swati Maliwal

They say bad things happen in a bunch. And that seems to be sticking like a limpet to Arvind Kejriwal, leader of the Aam Aadmi Party. He is on a downward spiral.

The interim bail till June 1 for election campaigning, granted by the Supreme Court in an alleged money laundering case in connection with the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy, was meant to be a reprieve for Kejriwal.

But after the Swati Maliwal assault episode he seems to be sinking deeper into a quagmire.

The latest trigger is of course the assault episode involving AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal. She was allegedly assaulted by Kejriwal's aide, Bibhav Kumar, and suffered internal injuries in her face, as per a medico-legal case report. An FIR has already been registered.

In her complaint, Swati alleged that Bibhav Kumar slapped, kicked, beat her with a stick, and punched her in the stomach. She showed up at Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi, to record her statement.

When Kejriwal stepped out of jail he was given a hero’s welcome. Many within his party felt this would rejuvenate the cadres and it would lift them in Delhi and Punjab. And just when it seemed the AAP campaign would pick up speed the wheels came off.

Then to make the optics even worse, Bibhav was seen flanking Kejriwal on his campaign tour. Why travel with someone who is already facing serious charges of assaulting a lady?

Some AAP observers say there were reports of differences between Kejriwal and Maliwal for some time. Apparently, Kejriwal was unhappy with Maliwal's absence from Delhi before and after his arrest as well as her strange silence on his incarceration. Maliwal, however, was reportedly visiting her sister in the US.

But even before the Maliwal incident, most of the party's Rajya Sabha MPs remained tight-lipped on Kejriwal's arrest. Except Sanjay Singh, Sandeep Pathak and ND Gupta, the other MPs remained strangely aloof.

So, are fissures developing within AAP? AAP’s lone Lok Sabha MP, Sushil Kumar Rinku, joined the BJP and was fielded from Jalandhar. Party MLA Raj Kumar Anand, a minister in the Delhi government, too quit after Kejriwal's arrest. MPs who chose not to protest against Kejriwal's arrest include Raghav Chadha and cricketer Harbhajan Singh.

Another name added to the list is Delhi minister Kailash Gahlot, who has been missing from most party functions.

If Kejriwal is jailed for a long time, cracks within the party may see a domino effect.

Another matter that could worry Kejriwal is that the Enforcement Directorate informed the Supreme Court of its decision to name AAP as a co-accused in the money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy

This will not only directly involve Kejriwal who is the convenor of the party but also conviction in this case could lead to a ban on the party.

The AAP is part of the INDIA opposition bloc. While Delhi's seven Lok Sabha seats will vote in the sixth phase of the election - on May 25, the BJP won all seven in its previous outing.

Some insiders say Kejriwal, despite serving as Delhi CM for the third time in a row, has a huge problem of retaining his core team. Is he insecure? Does he prefer having rookies around him? Or just those who toe his line? No wonder a string of influential members were either ousted or left AAP by choice.

One of the co-founders of the AAP, Shazia Ilmi left the party in May 2014, saying it had deviated from its core values. She joined the BJP later. Yogendra Yadav was expelled in March 2015 on the grounds of ‘anti-party activities’.

Prashant Bhushan, senior Supreme Court lawyer joined AAP in 2012, with a hope that this party would be free from corruption. However, he was sacked along with Yadav on the grounds of “anti-party activities” in March 2015.

Ashutosh joined the AAP after leaving his job in a news channel. He resigned from the party in August 2018, saying it was due to “a very very personal reason”. But the buzz was Kejriwal had denied him a seat in the Rajya Sabha.

AAP’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) suspended Kapil Mishra in May 2017 after he alleged corruption charges against CM Kejriwal and Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain. He joined BJP later.

A senior party leader from Mumbai, Anjali Damania, quit the party after reports that Kejriwal allegedly tried to poach Congress MLAs to form the government in Delhi.

Poet-turned-politician Kumar Vishwas distanced himself from the party citing differences with Kejriwal. Disgruntled AAP MLA Alka Lamba resigned from the party last September. She made a dig that AAP was now "Khas Aadmi Party". She joined the Congress later.

Can Kejriwal claw out of this prevailing mess? His leadership is being brutally tested as some of his key personnel remain in jail. The halo around him has also worn off. Once seen as a major contender, Kejriwal now appears more like a political caricature.