The Delhi police have arrested a personal aide of Delhi Chief Minister and National Convenor, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Arvind Kejriwal, following allegations of the aide assaulting a Rajya Sabha member of the AAP, Swati Maliwal. Accusations made by Ms. Maliwal against the aide, Bibhav Kumar, are of a serious nature. In a public statement, she has said that Mr. Kumar beat her “brutally” and “slapped and kicked” her. AAP leader Sanjay Singh had in a public statement, on May 14, said that the aide had “misbehaved” and “acted indecently” with Ms. Maliwal, when she arrived at Mr. Kejriwal’s official residence to meet him. Mr. Singh went on to add that Mr. Kejriwal had taken note of the incident and that “strict action” would follow. But that was not how events unfolded. The AAP did not act against Mr. Kumar and Ms. Maliwal filed a police complaint, leading to his arrest. In an abrupt change of tune, the AAP now accuses Ms. Maliwal, who has been an associate of Mr. Kejriwal for two decades, of being a “pawn” of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP has waded into the troubled waters, and the Congress has reminded Mr. Kejriwal that he had campaigned for laws that gave precedence to a woman’s words in a case of assault.
A media trial or a political tug of war cannot determine the truth. A professional, unbiased investigation can. The position of the BJP which is in power at the Centre and controls the Delhi police should not be allowed to influence the investigation. In fact, the BJP’s outrage here is hypocritical, considering its muted reaction to more serious allegations against Prajwal Revanna, a sitting MP of its ally, the Janata Dal (Secular). Mr. Kejriwal also must speak up on the issue. Continuing silence or making rhetorical allegations against the BJP is not the answer. The AAP that rose to prominence as part of a response to the decadence of politics in India, is today facing the catalogue of charges it had stuck on all other parties — from corruption and nepotism to authoritarianism and toxic masculinity. Despite being around for over a decade, it remains insulated from public scrutiny or internal accountability. It has no organisational structures of decision-making, and often takes recourse to arbitrary measures. Irrespective of the outcome of the Maliwal case, and quite apart from the BJP’s tendency to use enforcement agencies for political purposes, the AAP needs to do some serious introspection.
