It rained cats and dogs for a few hours today morning in Delhi and adjoining "suburbs" that comprise what is grandiosely described as the National Capital Region. With due apologies to dogs, the city literally went to the dogs in a jiffy. Massive traffic jams were reported from all across NCR. The Secretary of State of America, John Kerry had an engagement at the campus of IIT, Delhi. He paid a back handed compliment to Delhi residents by lauding their spirit and wondered if they had used boats to come and listen to him. Well known cricket player and Delhi resident added his bit about boats and others used dark humor to claim the time had come for Odd and Even boat days.
Delhi was cruelly exposed. So was the pathetically low levels of political rivalry between the BJP and the AAP. Ever since Arvind Kejriwal led AAP to a historic victory in the Delhi assembly elections in February, 2015 winning 67 out of 70 seats, he has been playing a game of one upmanship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. That is no surprise as Kejriwal wants to challenge Modi in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. But as Delhi was crippled today by rains, the games are no longer rhetorical and threaten to destroy Delhi. In fact, this farce has gone beyond levels of sanity. The Cambridge Dictionary defines one upmanship in the following words: " A situation in which someone does or says something in order to prove that they are better than someone else". For Delhi residents, in fact, itis now a a game of "down" manship as both sides holler that the other is worse.
Look first at where the BJP is failing. Latest data released by the NCRB show that Delhi is no longer just the rape capital of the country, but also the stalking capital. Now there is nothing that Arvind Kejriwal and AAP can do with Delhi Police. The blame must lie squarely with Lt Governor Najeeb Jung. If you are an ardent AAP fan, the blame must travel upwards all the way to prime minister Modi. Take your pick about where the buck stops. But there can be no doubt that Delhi Police is not doing a great job of preventing or even tackling crimes against women. Then there are the three corporations where the BJP has a majority. Most BJP corporators have done such a pathetic job that even prime minister Modi would be embarrassed.
But does that mean AAP is trying to valiantly serve Delhi residents even as Modi and his minions keep sabotaging them? That has been the refrain of Kejriwal and his minions for the last 18 months. The fact is, apart from grand and unsustainable claims made through a blizzard of ads, there is nothing really that AAP can show as good governance. Thousands of Delhi residents have been infected by Chichenguniya and the Delhi government has failed spectacularly to get a handle on the crisis. Dengue is looming as a serious threat all over again. Blaming Modi for this is laughable at best.
There is a clear failure of governance in Delhi. Partisans would keep blaming each other. The others can only why Delhi residents are paying a heavy prove doe this "down" manship.
