Delhi Polls: Fool me once, shame on Kejriwal . . .

It's time for Delhi to mean business, again. It was last year that Arvind Kejriwal, the famous revolutionary who came riding on the shoulders of Anna Hazare, took the Delhi electorate by storm and took to the reigns with much fanfare. There were new ministers, new MLAs, a new Chief Minister, and Delhi elections gave a new formula for politics that the world was fascinated with.

Fast forward to the 50th day after the swearing in, and Kejriwal was gone - but not for good. After the cameo came another shot at governance - and this time, at the national level. And it was not too difficult to see the designs of "Aam Aadmi Party", the new kid on the political block that was powered by the disillusionment of the common man but was controlled and directed by hidden agenda and vested interests. Kejriwal took the gamble, and had not much to lose anyway - it was only a matter of time then before Congress found a reason to trip AAP down, and if he clicks, it could be a shot at the Prime Minister's Office.

It is history that AAP could not ride the Modi Wave, and was virtually left with just a hollow structure, with many prominent faces revolting, some jumping ships, and many questioning Kejriwal's leadership style and capability.

Back to the present, Delhi votes today. Many would have written the Aam Aadmi off, for the blunders that Arvid Kejriwal and his ad hoc team have done for self-serving purposes and to suit, obviously, personal ambitions and, not-so-obviously, vested interests. Could a political party and movement form, survive and sustain spontaneously unless it was deliberately and persistently directed? But then, here is AAP, apparently giving BJP a run for its money. The Aam Aadmi Party, after all, is the common man only in name - it is nether common nor honest when it comes to the sources of its power and the purpose of its promoters.

And if AAP does snatch Delhi again from the reaches of BJP and returns the national capital to chaotic status quo, there is no point blaming Kejriwal now. Delhi, you have had one full year to judge this guy and know what he is. And if you still vote for AAP merely because Arvind Kejriwal has the gift of the gab to twist facts around and give them political shades, could turn the questions back and deflect them on to the questioner, justify every atrocious stance and all the turns that he takes with unscrupulous sleight, stick to the same rhetoric without offering solutions, resort to blame game and tap into popular dissent with reality, stay in the media limelight and subtly play the communal card, please do not blame him.

There is one mistake that Kejriwal would not repeat this time if he does win the Delhi elections: you wouldn't see his back in 49 days, but you would have to live with his dramatics for five full years - and the cost that it would entail is anybody's guess! If that is what you want, that is what you would deserve. Fool me twice, shame on Delhi!