The ongoing tussle between the Lt. Governor of Delhi, Najeeb Jung and Arvind Kejriwal has all the elements of tragedy and farce.
The tragedy is that while the people of Delhi elected Kejriwal with an unprecedented mandate he has not been allowed to function by a stultifying political ploy. Clearly the will of the people was in full display in the Delhi election - the AAP and their leader was what the people wanted. That is the real meaning of democracy. Unfortunately the farce that is being played out as we speak by Najeeb Jung at the behest of his political masters makes a mockery of democracy and the will of the people.
Much has been made of the legal and constitutional provisions that govern the moth eaten state of Delhi. Legal luminaries have expressed contrary opinions only pointing to an urgent need to clarify and simplify our archaic legal system. The fact that such contradictions exist and can be used to stymie the workings of a duly elected government is proof enough of our inept system - legal, bureaucratic and political.
For any system to work efficiently it is necessary for a leader to be able to choose his team. There must be cohesiveness and a shared sense of purpose. Any organisation that has a team that is not chosen by the leader and is in fact thrust upon him in-spite of his objections is doomed to fail. Shiela Dixit says that the CM should not be confrontational, rather he should attempt to build consensus and harmony. In other words, wag your tail and feed on the scraps that the system will allow you. Kejriwal was not elected for compromise and being co-opted by the system. If he does that he would have failed to live up to the expectations of the people who elected him. Sometimes the only way forward is confrontation. There has to be a stand on some issues and this is one of them. The sad part is that the BJP who had espoused the case for full statehood of Delhi has now made another U turn (people have lost count of the number of U turns that they have made in the last year that they have been in power)
As for Najeeb Jung after his brief moment in the sun he will fade out as people like him invariably do. At best he will be a footnote in the history of Delhi. The will of the people will prevail.
The tragedy is that while the people of Delhi elected Kejriwal with an unprecedented mandate he has not been allowed to function by a stultifying political ploy. Clearly the will of the people was in full display in the Delhi election - the AAP and their leader was what the people wanted. That is the real meaning of democracy. Unfortunately the farce that is being played out as we speak by Najeeb Jung at the behest of his political masters makes a mockery of democracy and the will of the people.
Much has been made of the legal and constitutional provisions that govern the moth eaten state of Delhi. Legal luminaries have expressed contrary opinions only pointing to an urgent need to clarify and simplify our archaic legal system. The fact that such contradictions exist and can be used to stymie the workings of a duly elected government is proof enough of our inept system - legal, bureaucratic and political.
For any system to work efficiently it is necessary for a leader to be able to choose his team. There must be cohesiveness and a shared sense of purpose. Any organisation that has a team that is not chosen by the leader and is in fact thrust upon him in-spite of his objections is doomed to fail. Shiela Dixit says that the CM should not be confrontational, rather he should attempt to build consensus and harmony. In other words, wag your tail and feed on the scraps that the system will allow you. Kejriwal was not elected for compromise and being co-opted by the system. If he does that he would have failed to live up to the expectations of the people who elected him. Sometimes the only way forward is confrontation. There has to be a stand on some issues and this is one of them. The sad part is that the BJP who had espoused the case for full statehood of Delhi has now made another U turn (people have lost count of the number of U turns that they have made in the last year that they have been in power)
As for Najeeb Jung after his brief moment in the sun he will fade out as people like him invariably do. At best he will be a footnote in the history of Delhi. The will of the people will prevail.
