Shortly after Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal’s letter of apology in a defamation case was circulated on social media last week, his critics pounced on the opportunity to mock the motormouth leader. His supporters, on the other hand, were left hugely disappointed.
Kejriwal apologised unconditionally to former Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia on Thursday for “falsely” accusing him of involvement in drug trade during the run up to Punjab assembly elections.
After such tall claims as promising the voters of Punjab to jail Majithia within weeks of assuming power, the apology is an anti-climax. This, combined with fresh news reports that Kejriwal has similarly apologised to Bharatiya Janata Party’s senior leader Nitin Gadkari in a separate defamation case, has further left his supporters disheartened and feeling cheated. Kejriwal is also expected to repeat it in another defamation case filed by Arun Jaitley.
This just might be the lowest moment for the party and its cadre since its inception in 2012 when it based itself on the principles of zero tolerance for corruption and crime. The very foundations of the party are now shaken with its founder looking his weakest ever.
But the party’s propaganda machine is hard at work to retain the confidence of its supporters. And while at it, it is desperately trying to make an embarrassing U-turn look like some sort of a ‘masterstroke’.
A look at pro-AAP pages on social media and posts shared on Whatsapp groups tells you how the narrative being peddled is that the apology is a personal sacrifice on part of Kejriwal for the larger good of the party and the mission.
“Please understand, Arvind Kejriwal has sacrificed his own image for Punjab, seems like an idea far fetched.. but it’s pure logic that there is no AAP in Punjab without Kejriwal & Manish Sisodia’s ground breaking work in health & education (sic),” says a long post titled ‘Apology, for the good…
