Delhi’s pollution crisis has technical and administrative solutions. It is the easiest of our problems, severe though it is. But the pollution that Arvind Kejriwal and his blatant lies have brought to India’s politics may need much more concerted effort to defeat and cleanse.

The Delhi Pollution

No, I am not trying to minimise the horrendous pollution that Delhi is going through – largely because of stubble burning in AAP-ruled Punjab. I don’t live there but I have folks that do. 

NASA and other satellite pictures clearly show the root cause. Haryana, with similar issues in the past, seems to have managed to contain the issue. Clearly Punjab’s governance has failed. 

Now, there could be perfectly legitimate excuses for this. They could range from the scale of the problem to the practical difficulty of various solutions. I am no expert but I know a good excuse when I see one.

But clearly, AAP is NOT going down that route. They are NOT saying give us a bit more time, we are working on it. After all, Kejriwal wanted one year and time is up. But we Indians, especially Hindus are patient. We waited 60 years for simple things like roads, electricity, toilets, and water. We happily voted the same family that sent its kids to Doon school and London, sending our kids to schools without blackboards, toilets or even teachers, that is if the school existed at all. 

We will happily give more time to Kejriwal, if asked for in a humble way, after accepting some responsibility for the problem. 

But he is NOT! He and his lackeys are resorting to something that has come to define the AAP brand of politics – blatant lying.  He is simply denying that the crisis is mainly due to the failure of AAP ruled Punjab government to perform. And is trying to divert attention.

It’s said that practice makes perfect. That may apply to playing the violin or practicing your serve in tennis but may be not spinning. They are getting more pathetic. After declaring that the cause of Delhi pollution can’t be traced, the hare-brained scheme of odd-even was introduced again! Did any fresh research discover that?! This will cause more inconvenience but hardly address the core issue. It’s like popping Dolo for terminal illness.

Yet another pathetic statement is that Punjab fires don’t affect Delhi as it’s 500km away! Apart from being a too clever by-half exaggeration of the sort we expect from AAP (from southern parts of Delhi to the northern parts of Punjab won’t be that much – you can measure it in Google!), it is also the exact opposite of AAP entire plank before it took power in Punjab. Air quality was a lot better before these fires. It’s no one’s case that farm fires are the only cause, of course.

Now what gives Kejriwal and AAP the chutzpah? 

Part of the answer is that a complete disregard for truth has been his trademark right from day 1. He has lied, lied through his teeth and apologised when the jig is up. Not once, but repeatedly.

He seems to think the electoral gains (and going by allegations of corruption, various OTHER gains) more than make up for any inconvenience apologising for repeated lies and slander. Of course, the notoriously short memory of the aam Indian aadmi helps too.

Another part of the answer lies in his decision to completely forget what he came into politics for and assuming that the public will forget it too. Do you remember? Seems like a cruel joke now. “To clean up Indian politics”. He has signed up with the very same corrupt dynasts he used to question 24/7 not too long ago! 

What does he get in return? Your guess is as good as mine. Presumably, he thinks he can become the consensus choice for the PM post if the dotted alliance wins enough seats but cannot agree on a PM candidate. Raghuram Rajan must be a worried man! After all that is likely his plan too! Or perhaps he is playing a longer waiting game for 2029 riding on the coattails of Congress and others.

Be that as it may, his surrender to 10 Janpath has given him extra wings – to lie and not be questioned about it. The mainstream media, and the left-liberal ecosystem, as well as Soros and co, see 2024 as a do-or-die battle to return to the good old days of UPA loot. The derailment of that gravy train has been painful for a lot of elites. Anyone, even the likes of Kejriwal, signing up to contribute to the “cause” is assured of all support. 

After all, if they can whitewash Shiv Sena’s past and project them as progressive, Yugpurush’s troubled relationship with the truth, Delhi liquor scam and governance failures must be child’s play to bury.

In other words, the newest broom in town is now safely in the custody of the oldest pile of trash.

That is why I said at the outset that while we may solve the pollution issue, the challenges to Indian polity and democracy posed by the Kejriwal brand of politics will require a lot more effort. 

I have written in the past about it – Kejriwal came like a Hercules to clean the Augean stables but he has flushed it not with fresh river water but sewage of the worst kind. 

I am not sure how the BJP is going to go about it – given the sensitivity of Punjab as a border state with a troubled past. It should not surprise anyone at all if Kejriwal turns the stubble-burning issue into a Sikh vs BJP issue. Or Punjab versus the rest of India. The leftist NGO crowd and Soros coolies are already making such noises on social media.

Any plant to tackle AAP’s brand of politics must embrace the very constituency he is trying to fool – the farmers of Punjab and the larger Sikh community. He must not be allowed to drive a wedge between them and the nation.

The poor farmers may be doing it for money or lack of it. But Kejriwal is perfectly capable of burning anything down to further his megalomaniac ambitions. He has tried that in the past too – embracing the cleric that wanted Tasleema beheaded. We all know about his flirting with Khalistani forces. You can’t put anything past him.

To me the danger Kejriwal poses to Congress and Rahul Gandhi’s ambition is probably more serious than the threat he poses to BJP, at least after 2024. Be it Akhilesh, Tejaswi, Aditya Thackeray, Omar Abdullah or the Stalin family of TN, all lack national ambitions or a realistic path to it. They are content to run the local franchises and a decent share of the takings in Delhi and play second fiddle to Congress at the Centre. 

Yugpurush Kejriwal is different. Right from Day 1 he has the PM chair in his cross hairs. Remember the massive contribution he made in 2014 to the Election Commission in the form of lost deposits?! He dialled down his ambition in 2019 but hasn’t written them off. Remember too that long before Rahul, he was the darling of the Soros, NYT, Ford types and knows how to work that relationship. Money will never be an issue. If I were Rahul I’ll be very worried. Because Kejri can play the exact game Rahul has been playing, including co-opting the leftist ecosystem perhaps even more effectively as, for all his faults, he is not seen as a lightweight dimwit. 

Signs of trouble are already there in the dotted alliance but if sensible leaders like Sandeep Dikshit and the Punjabi leaders of Congress can educate Rahul they will be doing a good service to India too. 

He must simply not be part of ANY alliance that has parties with India’s interests and unity and integrity at heart. 

And Delhi voters have a BIG responsibility – fool you once, twice is fine. Will they let him fool them again?