In a book on 2G scam, Salman Khurshid accuses Arvind Kejriwal of keeping national capital on ransom

Former union minister Salman Khurshid, in an attempt to explain the politics behind the 2G spectrum case, has written a book ‘Spectrum Politics: Unveiling the Defence’ where he has slammed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for launching a false and malicious campaign against former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to gain power in 2013.

Accusing Kejriwal of having kept the ‘national capital on ransom’, Khurshid has written in his book, ‘Ably assisted by Anna Hazare, who came, fasted and conquered, the former IRS civil servant converted the long-debated Lokpal into a battle cry for anarchy, but virtually destroyed the ability of the Congress party, itself born as a mass movement, to deal with crowds possessed by the cause of eradicating corruption from our daily lives. The deluge of cynicism and false salvation combined in a fatal mix to sweep away Dikshit despite a remarkable record of growth of services in Delhi.’ He further said that the anti corruption protests which began in 2011, affected the image of the then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, who had a ‘clean image’. He further said that, ‘Kejriwal became the oracle who wielded a brush that relentlessly and mercilessly tarred many a reputation, starting with the unimpeachable and noble PM Manmohan Singh.’

The book comes not too long after a Delhi court acquitted former telecom minister A Raja, and DMK Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi and other accused in the 2G spectrum case. The ED has moved the court against their acquittal. The book also gives interesting insight into UPA government’s engagement and relations with the judiciary. “One could sense the obvious tension between wizened politicians and the judiciary. And yet this was the time that my relations with successive chief justices were excellent. Far from the NDA government’s indefinite procrastination of the Supreme Court Collegium’s recommendations, I used to get the lists cleared right away,” he has written.