Turf battle in Delhi rages on

The country has had numerous State governments that belonged to different political ideology than the one at the Centre and numerous confrontations that brought in the Centre-State relations, the issue of federalism, political and ideological differences, the power and functioning of the bureaucracy and plain personal ego clashes. The ongoing tussle between the two governments in Delhi, Central and State, is by far the most public and at times vulgar

When a State minister or a lawmaker calls on the police chief, the latter sitting half-reclined, his arm rested casually on the sofa’s back as noticed in a photograph published by a Delhi newspaper, denotes not just the prevailing tension but also a certain lack of mutual respect that members of the legislature and the executive are expected to show in a democracy.

It is rare for ministers and legislators being arrested and jailed with alacrity as has happened in the last one year in Delhi, dubbed, rightly or otherwise, the country’s crime capital. Noting this is not to absolve any wrongdoing, but that those in authority have selectively displayed unusual levels of efficiency when it concerned the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) amidst its ongoing tussle with the government at the Centre.

The Delhi Police is controlled by the Union Home Ministry and not the State government as is the case elsewhere in the country. Here lies the rub that is old and did not begin with the AAP being elected to office in 2013 and again, last year. It is unlikely to be resolved.

The country has had numerous State governments that belonged to different political ideology than the one at the Centre and numerous confrontations that brought in the Centre-State relations, the issue of federalism, political and ideological differences, the power and functioning of the bureaucracy and plain personal ego clashes. The ongoing tussle between the two governments in Delhi, Central and State, is by far the most public and at times vulgar.

The AAP government completed one year in office last Sunday. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's first full year in power has witnessed practically daily head-long clash with the Centre’s representative, Lt Governor Najeeb Jung. Both have been in government and know how it works. While Kejriwal is waging a struggle that is essentially political, Jang, despite a good record as an administrator and an academic, finds himself pitted as a bulwark carrying out the diktats of a government that has a political score to settle with the AAP and Kejriwal.

It is political score because till today there is no clear explanation how the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) having won a clear mandate at the Centre in mid-2014, including all the seven Delhi Lok Sabha seats was in December that very year badly trounced by a rookie that bagged 67 of the 70 State assembly seats.

Past year has witnessed hostility that is unprecedented. A fighter not afraid of calling names (“my language is vulgar, my intent is not”), Kejriwal called Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his permanent target of attack a ‘coward’ and a ‘psychopath’ when the house and office of a top Delhi government official were raided. The public discourse has been toxic, and the public is dismayed.

Not surprising, the battle has also assumed an extension as a debate on Centre-State relations. Kejriwal’s ultimate objective is clearly to provoke a firmer central response to the demand for full statehood for Delhi, an old issue that has played out many times before, even among leaders of the same party, with no clear resolution in sight. The central government has given clear indications that it will not yield and will breathe down Delhi government’s neck, as vehemently as any past central government has done.

On his part, Kejriwal, having imaged himself as the victim in these skirmishes, is unlikely to relent given that polls to the municipal bodies, currently controlled by BJP, are likely to be held early next year. The stalemate over the crumbling finances of the municipal corporations and the implementation of the Fourth Delhi Finance Commission recommendation had a parallel in over 50 decisions being notified without the approval of Najeeb Jung and more than one dozen state legislations. Kejriwal claims 77 officers besides other staff have been called so far in a patently illegal manner.

Add to these the turf battle over the Anti-Corruption Branch and the powers of appointment in Delhi, and you had an incendiary mix that was readymade for the politics of standoff that Kejriwal thrives on.The tussle includes the much heralded Jan Lokpal Bill, being stalled by the Centre. This is an irony considering that both BJP and AAP, before and after it parted ways with social activist Anna Hazare, spearheaded the anti-graft campaign and the Lokpal demand against the Manmohan Singh Government. Battle lines were redrawn once the Congress was trounced in Parliament and eliminated in Delhi.

The other irony is that having emerged from the anti-graft movement taking on other political parties and the country’s political culture, the AAP has shown itself as no different, no better, protecting its controversial leaders and lawmakers.Relentless in this ongoing duel, the politically savvy Kejriwal has painted the Prime Minister as the principal impediment in the state government's smooth functioning. His ploy is to employ the old federalism issue to cement his position on the national stage. The year ahead is, therefore, primed for more fire on the matter.

Rivals in BJP and Congress view this focus of AAP as a diversionary tactic to keep public attention away from the far from spectacular implementation of many of the promises made by the party in its 70-point agenda for Delhi. The BJP is constantly critical and its government at the Centre is uncooperative, while the Congress plays its own games to stay in the picture, like conducting a recent sting against the State government.

Traditionally a two-party State with power shared by the BJP and the Congress, Delhi’s political discourse has now become three-way thanks to AAP. There is a marked gap between the AAP promises and what has been done on the ground. But then Delhi’s problems are not those that can be solved instantly. While Delhites have suffered – a prolonged strike by civic staff turned the national capital into a garbage heap – Kejriwal and AAP seem intent to deliver. Perception in public has been mixed with many promises not kept so far. But there is no popular anger and people seem willing to give AAP a chance.

A glaring example is the odd-even transport scheme for the national capital that is a national first. Although a dark alley, it has generated a high measure of public support despite inconveniences. There is support despite conflicting claims and chatter by the netizen who are the main people affected and opposition from political parties and automakers, among others.

Somehow, the need to reduce pollution and traffic congestion on the road has struck a positive chord among Delhi’s populace. Whatever the outcome, short, medium and long-term, AAP, Kejriwal and his multi-tasking deputy Manish Sisodia deserve credit.

While resorting to realpolitik, Kejriwal has also engaged in ‘realbiz’ that anyone in power needs to do. He has raised the officials’ salaries, wooing a constituency of which he was once a part, and paid a hefty sum to settle the civic strike.

Having won four surprise Lok Sabha seats in Punjab (none in its bastion Delhi, though), AAP is widely seen as a factor in the state assembly polls scheduled there later this year. It threatens both the ruling coalition of Akali Dal and BJP and the main opposition Congress. It remains to be seen if the party, seen as an urban phenomenon,

will be able to make the difference in the debate on the dwindling prosperity of Punjab’s farmer, the thriving drug trade and much else. Since the Modi and Kejriwal mandates will be running parallel, Delhi, the political heart of India, shall suffer palpitations for the next three years-plus.