Clean sweep

The so dubbed ‘Everyone’s CM’, Arvind Kejriwal, stirred the political hornet’s nest once again and romped home to a landslide victory (“Kejriwal knew he had wholehearted Muslim support,” Feb.16, Gulf Today).

But the twist in the tale was not his victory, that was a given. Rather it was the silent stirring of the nest. By silent, I mean, he stayed mum on the ongoing citizenship law protest and on the provocation of the Hindu-Muslim sentiments. The man knew better than to fall prey to BJP’s diversionary tactics. Of course Kejriwal did draw flak for ignoring the pressing Citizenship issue. But after the election dust settled, the wisdom in the Delhi CM’s decision became apparent.

The author noted that the ‘voters of Delhi showed equanimity about distinguishing between national level responsibilities and accountability for what was happening locally’. That is no doubt a fair projection of the ground reality. But it is not only the Delhi voter who has made that distinction evident, the pan-India voter is also on the same page. And that is crystal clear because the BJP lost six regional hustings in the last two years.

The other aspect I would like to draw attention to is that it is not entirely right to assume that it was the Muslim voters alone who fuelled Kejriwal’s success. Voters of other religions also wholeheartedly extended their solidarity to AAP.  

The Delhi results have shown that the electorate can no longer be brainwashed by empty poll promises.

Sayed Hussain
By email