Urban Mirror

The kind of luxury items Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal ordered for his own comfort are astounding! Only erstwhile maharajas, who had no accountability towards the people could wantonly indulge in these kind of luxuries, not a democratically elected responsible public leader who was absorbed in spending crores on lavishly furnishing his official house at a critical time when Delhi was reeling under a massive covid crisis, writes former IAS officer V.S.Pandey

The famous German philosopher Fredrich Nietzsche aptly wrote “ I am not upset that you lied to me , I’m upset from now on I can’t believe you” This is the tragedy of Kejariwal today. He has lost credibility. The aam aadmi’s tremendous trust in him has been completely decimated as Kejriwal monumental blunders literally stand exposed-living in a palatial glasshouse he was constantly hurling accusing stones at others of his ilk.

The Delhi Excise scam dust is yet to unravel as many more people are still to be questioned and arrested. The dark clouds of this scam and his alleged complicity are still looming ominously. Meanwhile, another humungous “scam” worth nearly 45 cores relating to the money spent on renovation of Kejariwal’s official residence has been uncovered. Although public memory is short , still people remember the tall claims made by the same Kejariwal regarding his widely publicised austerity measures like his pledging to neither ever use an official vehicle nor the use of an official residence. His sworn affidavit in this regard is in public domain , being circulated widely. He is the same Kejariwal who used the metro to travel sometimes as Chief Minister. Now the clock has turned full circle .The selfsame Kejariwal has spent an astronomical 45 crores of rupees to furnish his house. This is unprecedented in the history of our republic . The kind of luxury items he ordered for his own comfort are astounding! Only erstwhile maharajas, who had no accountability towards the people could wantonly indulge in these kind of luxuries, not a democratically elected responsible public leader who was absorbed in spending crores on lavishly furnishing his official house at a critical time when Delhi was reeling under a massive covid crisis. At that time he was proclaiming that he had no funds to help his stricken people cope better with the Covid catastrophe while he was busy sanctioning crores on purchasing costly kitchen gadgets, expensive curtains and importing Italian tiles and other extravagances .

You can fool all the people some of the time only. Time is inevitably running out for Kejariwal. His Goebelian propaganda of his principled governance stands exposed. The gullible voters are easy prey of our cunning , corrupt , scheming political class of all hues. Once again they have been deceived. They were mislead by Kejariwal’s blatant lies during the initial years and shocked today to see the real Kejariwal. How could teachers, engineers, professionals, lawyers , media persons, social workers etc. fail to see through his duplicitous lies and antics and were taken in by his public drama of climbing electricity poles to cut wires in full media glare, is the question . It seems they were all duped into believing in this web of lies and deceit. At present , all those who are still carrying flag for the AAP party should interrogate its leaders actions which totally annihilate its foundational principles.

The details of the expenditure which are in public domain now, incurred on the so called renovation of his residence, have outraged people. The incongruity of a chief minister, who repeatedly touted his common man status , found brazenly spending ₹44.78 crore on the beautification of his home- out of which ₹11.3 crore was spent on interior decorations; ₹6 crore on imported marble from Vietnam; ₹1 crore for interior design consultancy; Rs.5.43 crore went into electrical, automatic smart lighting systems; ₹1.1 crore on appliances in the kitchen, including a built-in barbecue charcoal grill; and ₹1 crore on wooden flooring. To top it all ,no tenders were issued as per the established rules and practice , and work was allocated to contractors without following due procedures which smacks of corruption and serious illegality. He had even ordered demolition of several buildings to increase his lavish residence area to more than seven acres. This kind of indulgent lifestyle is unbecoming of a public servant who was professing austerity and proclaiming that he would change the unethical political culture in India. Ironically, nothing changed except him! A so called product of a massive anti corruption campaign is now surrounded by a corrupt coterie. Kejriwal was recently questioned by the CBI in connection with the nefarious Delhi excise scam and two of his erstwhile senior cabinet colleagues are currently behind bars .

If you are corrupt, be humble then . Those who ignore this dictum are bound to suffer. Preaching honesty and sanctimoniously glorifying working for the aam aadmi through massive advertising -while serving his own khaas interests was a charade which stands exposed. Ethical leadership is trustworthy as it comprises integrity, honesty and accountability. Kejriwal has violated and destroyed this trust. Like Humpty Dumpty, will the betrayed public ever put him together again?

(Vijay Shankar Pandey is former Secretary Government of India)