Setback for AAP
Aam Aadmi Party’s vicious campaign against Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor backfires
The Delhi High Court’s decision to restrain Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its leaders from leveling “false” allegations against Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena is a rap on the knuckles for the Arvind Kejriwal-led party. More so because the court has also directed them to take down all libelous posts, videos, and tweets against him on social media. This is not the first time that AAP and its leaders have been forced to retract after making all sorts of allegations against senior leaders of various parties. From Nitish Gadkari to Arun Jaitley, Sheila Dikshit to Kapil Sibal, Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia to Ramesh Bidhuri, the AAP has a record of making unfounded allegations against its political rivals. At the height of the Anna Hazare movement, Kejriwal and his associates missed no opportunity in targeting their political rivals by doing everything possible to tarnish their images in a bid to project themselves as crusaders against corruption. After they came to power in 2015, leaders of the fledgling outfit were burdened with a slew of defamation cases. Realizing that the majority of his allegations were unsubstantiated, Kejriwal and senior leaders of his party went on an apology spree”. It was expected that having learned their lessons and acquired some degree of political maturity over the years, the AAP leaders would be far more restrained in leveling allegations without producing any evidence. But the hit-and-run squad of the AAP seemed to still thrive on mudslinging. Delhi LG VK Saxena was this time the target of the AAP after he ordered a CBI inquiry into Delhi’s excise policy. AAP leaders not only targeted Saxena but also tried to drag his daughter into their net.
Without producing a shred of evidence, they accused Saxena of laundering nearly `1,400 cr of demonetized currency in 2016 allegedly by putting pressure on employees of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission, when Saxena was its chairman. The fact remains that Saxena had ordered an inquiry into the laundering of around `17laklh by the KVIC treasurer and another employee. It is incomprehensible how AAP leaders arrived at the figure of `1,400 cr and flung it without a second thought at a constitutional functionary. Saxena not only rubbished the charges but also approached the Delhi HC against this mudslinging at him by AAP, its leaders Atishi Singh, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Durgesh Pathak, Sanjay Singh, and Jasmine Shah. Saxena has also sought damages and compensation of `2.5 crore along with interest from the political party and its five leaders. Saxena had earlier sent a legal notice to AAP and its leaders asking them to issue a press release “directing all members of the party and all persons associated with it, whether directly or indirectly, to cease from spreading and circulating false, defamatory, malicious and unsubstantiated statements”. Now that the HC has ruled in his favor, AAP leaders may have a tough legal battle on their hands against the LG.
Source: The Pioneer
