June 08, 2023

A megalomaniac thinks there is no one like him and also thinks that the world would be a poorer place without him or her. Arvind Kejriwal has gone a step ahead and has started imagining that the personal security officers (PSO) appointed to protect him would kill him. Kejriwal gave an interview to a Punjabi news channel where he clearly said that he fears that he would be killed by his PSOs. When challenged by Vijay Goel of the BJP, he changed the statement and now claims that PM Modi would get him killed. Really, there is no end to the absurdities this man heaps on the public.

Why does Kejriwal think so? Recently, a man had climbed atop his open van during a roadshow in Delhi and had landed a stinging blow on his face and shoulders. Kejriwal was slapped and had ink and chilli powder thrown at him at different times and places in the past too. He thinks that these security breaches are deliberate and under the guise of such incidents, he will be eliminated by PM Modi.

Nothing can be more absurd. Indian politics is dirty but it has till now not stooped to the level of a gang war where opponents are killed. Politicians are assigned a level of security cover as per the threat perception. This security cover is generally assigned by the Centre but is manned by local security agencies like the state police and commandos. Since Delhi Police is under the Centre, Kejriwal claims Modi would depute handpicked PSOs to kill him. Vijay Goel has rightly offered that Kejriwal can pick his security detail if that is the way he thinks.

Although Kejriwal has a very high opinion of himself, he is one of the smallest fries in Indian politics. On May 23rd, his party will either draw a blank or at best might win one Lok Sabha seat in the elections. His repeated entreaties to the Congress for tie-ups in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana were spurned, reducing his stock and lowering his prestige. He knows that he has to fight the Delhi assembly elections in February (or earlier) next year. Kejriwal’s autocracy has compelled many leaders to quit AAP, leaving him with a few chamchas. He knows it would be difficult to stop the BJP juggernaut in 2020 with this rag-tag ensemble. Hence, he tries to be in the news and perhaps garner sympathy by making such ridiculous charges.