The game has begun. It is such a 'beautiful' coincidence that the day the news of BJP's only campaigner, Narendra Modi, holding a 'Mega Rally' in the Ram Lila Grounds became public (scheduled for 10th January 2015) and the day when Delhi was inundated with huge BJP hoardings, was the day eggs were thrown at Arvind Kejriwal at a public rally; the next day stones were thrown at him in another.
I know it's not a coincidence. I won't call it desperation nor will I call it frustration; neither will I say that the BJP is indulging in such shameful acts because they are worried about losing.
It's clear that Delhi will be Prime Minister Narendra Modi's real test of popularity. It was easy for Modi to trounce and vanquish his opponents in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and also partly in J&K as people of these states did not have much of a choice. They had to choose the best among discredited parties. In Delhi, on the other hand, the BJP has to fight with a political force which has a very high level of credibility and has earned tremendous goodwill with the masses. Nobody is buying the radio spots the BJP is trying to sell to the people of Delhi claiming that Arvind Kejriwal is not trustworthy, that he can't run the government and will again leave them mid-way.
So the obvious question is why is the BJP doing all this? The answer is easy. It's an attempt to scare AAP volunteers and people who are collecting in big numbers in Arvind's jan sabhas. The popularity of a leader is measured by the number of the people who assemble at such public rallies. The idea is that the possibility of violence or stone pelting will discourage people from going to Arvind's rallies and if that happens, then the BJP's propaganda machinery will churn out theories to prove that Kejriwal is no longer a force in the capital.
The very same trick was tried during the parliament elections. Ink was thrown on Arvind and AAP leaders a number of times; Arvind was slapped and hit on his face. Every time the person was caught but the police was not interested in investigating the matter to find out who were the real perpetrators. AAP made official complaints too, but in vain. When the battle shifted from Delhi to Varanasi from where Modi decided to contest elections and Arvind decided to challenge him, the same story was repeated in a more hateful manner.
I still haven't forgotten how Arvind and his entourage were hounded in every nook and corner of the holy city. Arvind had reached Varanasi and after a long hectic day when he decided to visit Sanjay ki Addi, a local paan shop, which is very popular with paan lovers, he was welcomed by Modi supporters with filthy slogans; broken bottles were hurled at them. The drama was enacted for a full 45 minutes. Luckily, no one got hurt. It was a warning for him to not be too courageous.
The very talented AAP volunteers Nandan Mishra and Ankit Lal though were not so lucky. They were beaten at the famous Assi ghat in Varanasi. Their only crime was to dare to campaign in the BJP's stronghold. Nandan's nose was broken. Another day, at the same Assi Ghat, Somnath Bharti, the Law Minister in the AAP government, was brutally attacked during a TV show.
There is yet another scary incident which is still etched in my mind. I got a call around 10.30 in the night that an AAP volunteer had been badly beaten. His hand was broken. He happened to be a Muslim. I was dreading it turning into a nasty Hindu-Muslim clash. I immediately rushed to the spot, requested a Muslim friend to calm his friends, who were very agitated. I had to talk tough to a senior police officer and submit a memorandum to the young district magistrate to requesting attention and focus on law and order in the city.
If they thought that such incidents would dampen the spirit of AAP volunteers, then they were mistaken. It rather gave the young fellows a good taste of Indian politics and made them more determined to change the rotten system. One day India will be a democracy where violence will be abhorred; it will not have any space for hooligans but till then, one has to fight tooth and nail.
Such fights will make our resolve stronger; as Gandhiji used to say, non-violence is a virtue of the brave. I want to say that our volunteers know fully well that only cowards resort to violence to intimidate peace-loving people. We will take these attacks into our stride as we believe in non-violence. Till then it's a 'good' game of politics; my dear friends.
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