THE choice of Ms. Atishi as the new Chief Minister of Delhi following the much-hyped resignation of Mr. Arvind Kejriwal has given rise to much speculation, one of which being that she would act only as a dummy CM. This speculation got strengthened all the more with Ms. Atishi herself stressing to the media that her goal would be ensure the return of Mr. Arvind Kejriwal as Chief Minister at the earliest. When will that happen may be left to subsequent developments, all right, but it appears to political observers that Ms. Atishi will act as a ‘front’ to Mr. Arvind Kejriwal -- who is currently out on bail with multiple conditions outlining his activity. Ms. Atishi’s accession to chief ministership is not without controversy. For, Ms. Swati Maliwal, Aam Aadmi Party’s Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha, has registered her clear opposition to the appointment alleging that Ms. Atishi and her family had actively worked to ensure release of terror-mastermind Afzal Guru after he was convicted for his involvement in the plan to attack Parliament Complex. Obviously, the AAP think-tank has rejected such objections and has gone ahead with the appointment of Ms. Atishi as Delhi Chief minister.

 

vertheless, the common people now realise the cracks in the AAP armour, and may not feel surprised if some trouble crops up in the party later on. Ms. Atishi, meanwhile, earned for herself the reputation of a strong-willed leader who held fort during the long absence of Mr. Kejriwal. She is also credited to have made major policy decisions that shaped the form and content of AAP politics when the supremo was away behind prison bars. So, to those who had seen these developments Ms. Atishi’s appointment as a successor to Mr. Kejriwal was only a natural choice. True, the choice did shock some observers who believed that Mr. Arvind Kejriwal would choose his wife Sunita as his successor. At this point, the AAP supremo played a great hand to shock many people -- in politics and elsewhere. Ms. Atishi, however, has been accused of being a Leftist in political ideology and has helped the Left Wing politics in every which the way ever since she started taking part in public affairs.

 

Her ideological background, thus, leaves many gaps in her political profile -- as a result of which many suspect if Ms. Atishi would offer a clear Leftist leaning to her Government. Though Mr. Kejriwal’s political leaning has been of a suspect nature, he would not mind a Left-leaning successor for himself (in the form of Ms. Atishi). By itself, Leftist leaning does not militate against the multilateral political discourse of the country. But when such a leaning assumes an extreme positioning, by way of supporting even separatist movements such as Khalistan, then the issue gets very serious. Of course, that goes well with Mr. Kejriwal’s political stance of ideological ambivalence. For, even as he rose to national prominence in politics, Mr. Kejriwal made use of each and every shade of political ideology, thus keeping himself free from any spiritual encumbrance. His rise in politics had given a sense of hope and promise to many in the country. However, in time to come, Mr. Kejriwal did not do anything to consolidate that emotion. Much to the contrary, he led a life of complete political dichotomy. Later developments did erase that confusion and Mr. Kejriwal emerged as a leader with suspect political and ethical morality. His exit from the scene does give an impression that he is staring at his political end. Yet, in uncertain game of politics a villain of today may stage a comeback later. Meanwhile, Delhi will have to make do with Ms. Atishi as new AAP leader.