It is astonishing that Shekhar Gupta's column, "I, me, myself, to the power of three" (December 21), elevates Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to the league of the "three most important players in our national politics" - the others being Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi. Is Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar less important because he does not exhibit illeism?
Kejriwal's efforts to become nationally relevant came a cropper in the 2104 Lok Sabha elections when he lost his election deposit in Varanasi where he had pitted himself against Modi. The Aam Aadmi Party could not win a single parliamentary seat in Delhi; that it acquired seats elsewhere, albeit in the single digits, was a fig leaf. Of course, the party did win the Delhi Assembly elections.
Kejriwal behaves as if he has the last word on every subject and picks up quarrels with almost everyone - it was Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung sometime back; now it is the central government. He is much more visible than Kumar and finds ways to remain in the public eye, for example by abusing the prime minister.
Gupta ends his piece by criticising the Bharatiya Janata Party for its lack of large-heartedness and Gandhi for his arrogance, but Kejriwal emerges unscathed. Is Kejriwal the ideal Indian politician?
Y G Chouksey Pune
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