AAP government is riding a tiger

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi is facing a new problem almost everyday. The party, which came to power promising a good, efficient, transparent and clean government, is busy handling one or the other crisis.

Law Minister Somnath Bharti's mid-night raid on an alleged sex and drug racket run by African nationals pitted the entire AAP government against the Centre and the main opposition BJP. It was followed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's dharna near Parliament building. Rebel MLA Vinod Kumar Binny also added to their woes by openly revolting against the party.

Now the private companies, which supply power, are causing a huge problem for the AAP government.

Kejriwal has been maintaining that he is not after power and ready to quit anytime. Almost every day he dares the Congress to withdraw support the government saying that he never asked the Congress to back his government.

The local Congress leaders are uncomfortable with the idea of continuing their support to the AAP government. They fear that it may lead to further erosion of Congress votes ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Many of them want the Congress to withdraw support to the government.

But the Congress high command is not keen on pulling out at this juncture. It fears that any such move might make the AAP a martyr and go against the Congress.

According to insiders the Congress high command wants the AAP to be in power till the Lok Sabha elections.

The main opposition BJP, which narrowly lost the power, feels that the collapse of the AAP government will benefit the party. It wants to 'expose' the failures of the AAP government to boost its chances in the Lok Sabha elections.

It has now forced the AAP to take on the top leadership of the BJP. It is now openly alleging that the people who claim that they are close to Arun Jaitley and Narendra Modi are offering the crores to AAP MLAs to defect.

Some AAP leaders privately admit that forming a government with the Congress was a blunder. They argue that it has dealt a body blow to the reputation of the party and put question marks over its future growth.

But Kejriwal does not want to quit on his own. Kejriwal, a shrewd politician, knows that if the Congress topples the government, he can gain more in the future. He is now trying to play victim and wants to deliver on his poll promises. It allows him to divert the attention from other key issues. According to his close aides he is not in a mood to go for another election. He wants the Congress and three other MLAs to impose another assembly election on the voters of Delhi.

But, the Congress leaders know that such a move will benefit the BJP and not their party. They may create trouble for him every day by using the Centre, but they will not pull the plug.

The biggest losers are the "aam aadmi" (common people) of Delhi. The party they backed to cleanse the system is busy handling its own problems and has less time for the people and governance.

If the same situation continues for three more months, the AAP may have to face a tough challenge in Lok Sabha elections. The AAP is riding a tiger. Perhaps, it does not know how to disembark without being eaten by the same tiger.