Power Changed Kapil Mishra. He Is Now A Pawn

I always thought human nature was exaggeratedly depicted as diabolical in books and movies. Now I know it happens in real life too - one of our own has betrayed us and acted like Brutus. He was like a younger brother. I did not know him before joining AAP, and initially met him at a party meeting. In the 2013 Delhi Assembly elections, he lost from Karawal Nagar. He was not an MLA, but he was quite active, and I could see he was one of the trusted members of the party and the party used to rely on him. In the 2015 assembly elections, he won with a good margin and later he was inducted in the Delhi Cabinet. I was happy for him. But today, I am crestfallen, maybe I will never trust anyone so easily again, maybe I won't consider anyone a younger brother ever again. Yes, Kapil, you have smashed basic trust, the basic human value which bonds one human to another.

After becoming a minister, I could see him changing. He was more vocal in public space. He availed every opportunity to be in the news, be it in TV or in print or digital media. His WhatsApp was also active. His Twitter feed and other social media activity was immediately mass circulated. I could sense that he was out to promote himself. He was willingly taking a nationalist position in the party, be it on the Pathankot episode with calling Modi an ISI agent, or openly embarrassing Mehbooba Mufti, the Chief Minister of J&K, over her stand on the hanging of Afzal Guru at a public function. Within the party there were murmurs that he was taking too much liberty but it was treated as little childish. Now we know he was not naive, he was using every opportunity to promote himself for something bigger. It was not the reflections of a "self-confessed-revolutionary" who pretended he was making big sacrifices for the anti-corruption movement, and said he was not in politics for power or post but to change the system and follow the path of Arvind Kejriwal.

But that day, his transformation was very sudden, completely unpredictable, beyond our wildest imaginations. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia called to inform that he was being dropped from the cabinet on the night of May 4. His face fell. He threatened that he would finish Arvind Kejriwal, his politics and he would "see to it that Arvind lands in jail". Manish was stunned. He did not know how to react. The message was clear. I don't know if he spoke to someone when he went out after being told about his ouster from the cabinet, or if it was the reaction of a man who could not take the shock of not being a minister anymore. But his diatribe the very next day was threatening. His allegations that Arvind had received two crores from Satyendra Jain, another minister, in his presence at the Chief Minister's residence is too bizarre, too surreal, an accusation from a different planet.
 It is absurd. It is ridiculous. He is suggesting that Arvind Kejriwal has accepted a bribe from one of his cabinet colleagues. He was making this accusation, that even Arvind's worst enemies would not make. He was accusing, of corruption, a man known for his anti-corruption crusade, one who has inspired a whole generation to fight against corruption, for whom thousands of people like me have left their careers and well-established businesses to live like paupers, a man who has achieved the impossible in Indian politics of not only establishing a political party from nowhere but successfully forming a government twice in less than two years in Delhi without any political base, a man who led AAP to win 67 seats when Modi was at the peak of his popularity. 

But then that is politics, that is why people don't enter to politics and that is why politics is referred to as the last refuge of the scoundrels.

I am convinced that in this game of treachery, Kapil  is not alone. I am convinced that he is being backed by the most powerful forces who have been trying to tarnish the image of Arvind and AAP since we formed the government. The BJP government at the centre has not left a single opportunity to strangle the AAP government.

Kapil claims he was at the Chief Minister's home when the bribe was given, but cannot explain the exact time of his visit. The Chief Minister and Satyendra Jain's schedules are in the public domain and every second is accounted for. One can easily find out when and where they met and in whose company. CCTV cameras are installed in every corner of the Chief Minister's residence, it can be most comfortably found out when and what time Kapil arrived. The fact is that on the stated date he had not gone there at all. The day after he was sacked, he attended two meetings at the Chief Minister's residence. One was during the day and another was in the evening along with other party colleagues and MLAs. He did not have a one-on-one or any private meeting with the Chief Minister. These are all verifiable facts. All records are available for any investigating agencies. By some quirk of fate, even Satyendra Jain did not visit the Chief Minister's residence on the stated date of "so-called meeting".
 This man is now alleging that Arvind has been stalling the investigation in the tanker scam against Sheila Dikshit, the ex-Chief Minister of Delhi. He was the Water Minister. He himself had written a letter dated September 26, 2016, saying that he had no faith in the Anti-Corruption Bureau and that the agency was pressuring him to implicate Arvind in this case. And now, he has a renewed faith in the same Anti-Corruption Bureau and is visiting it now to complain about Arvind and other AAP leaders. Now he wants us to believe that the Bureau, which has been witch-hunting AAP for the last two years, will do justice. In the last two days, he has gone bonkers and said that many AAP leaders and functionaries are "indulging in corrupt practices".

At this point, it is imperative to ask the most obvious questions - why was he silent for so long considering he was a cabinet minister and an MLA and an active member of the party? Why didn't he raise these charges earlier - at a party forum ever or outside? How did he become so "pure" when he was sacked from the cabinet? And why does the media take such a person - who did not show any moral courage when he was in cabinet - so seriously? Why are his words taken as gospel truth by the media when, except for oral accusations, he has not provided any evidence?

Now I have serious doubts about his sudden outburst being momentary insanity but I am sure that it is part of a larger design, a bigger game plan and a conspiracy to destabilize the AAP government. During the municipal corporation elections, everywhere I went, I met angry supporters and volunteers complaining about the sudden drop in the quality of water management. Water management has been one of the main achievements of the AAP government. Such complaints were immediately raised with him, but the situation only worsened day after day. There was no improvement. Why? Was it done deliberately by him to impact AAP's election fortunes? Was he hell bent on sabotage? Was he acting at the behest of the BJP? Or someone more powerful one? Was he lured with promises of bigger and better things by the BJP like so many other turncoats in other states?

I know that the coming months are very crucial. Even more sinister things will happen. Every attempt will be made to finish AAP as an idea and the  government as a structure. People like Kapil are just pawns. Someone else is the ringmaster. Nonetheless such battles make us stronger and confirms our resolves that fight against corruption is not easy; aag ka dariya hai, doob ke jaana hai.

(Ashutosh joined the Aam Aadmi Party in January 2014.)

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