With senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas tendering a written apology to Union Minister for Finance Arun Jaitley, the saga of unsubstantiated allegations that the AAP had levelled against the Union Minister appears to have ended at least legally. Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister Arvid Kejriwal had apologised.
The AAP top brass has argued that its leaders had taken the step to help the party and Government to focus on governance and not waste its time and energy on contesting legal cases in courts. That’s an attempt to wriggle out of the mess that the party had landed itself in. It may be recalled that the legal case had gone nowhere after senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani appearing for Kejriwal withdrew,accusing the Delhi Chief Minister of a host of issues. But Kumar Vishwas’s letter of apology is interesting and different from those of his leader. In his withdrawal letter, which Jaitely accepted, bringing the matter to a close, the AAP leader squarely blamed Kejriwal for the embarrassment, saying he (Vishwas) had “blindly” trusted the Chief Minister when the latter flung accusations at the Union Minister.
Of course, this does not absolve Vishwas of his role; after all, he is an adult and should have been more circumspect, especially given Kejriwal’s hai of levelling allegations with material to back them up. But then, as it said, better late than never. Kumar Vishwas’s stand is certain to harm his political relations with Kejriwal — a relationship that has been under strain for long now. Vishwas has done everything in the recent past to invite action against himself, and some action has come. He has been marginalised in the party and has no important organisational role to play. It remains to be seen as to how long this stand-off will continue.
Meanwhile, it can be said, paradoxically, that Kumar Vishwas is in the AAP without being part of it. There is no doubt that Kejriwal has compromised the credibility of the Aam Aadmi Party by his senseless statements, and it will require more than abject apologies to reverse that situation. The Lok Sabha election is due in less year’s time and the State election too later, and the AAP is no longer the formidable force it was in Delhi. Its forays into Punjab and elsewhere have failed to take off. Senior leaders and founder-members are no longer part of the organisation. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Kejriwal must accept the blame for all that has gone wrong with the party.
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