Delhi elections 2020: 5 things Arvind Kejriwal did which he promised not to do

NEW DELHI: Politicians and political parties are generally known for not fulfilling their promises. The election manifestoes in most of the cases remain unimplemented. However, in a reverse case, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has done some things which he had promised he would not do.
Arvind Kejriwal, a former RTI activist, has made a number of U-turns over the years - right from the days when he was a part of Team Anna which had launched the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement in 2011.
His latest U-turn took place earlier this week in the midst of campaigning for the February 8 Delhi assembly election.
These are the five promises which Arvind Kejriwal had made saying he would never do them but he eventually ended up breaking them.
1. Contesting election
Anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare led the IAC movement in April 2011 to press the then Manmohan Singh government for implementation of a Jan Lokpal Bill.
Team Anna consisted prominent personalities such as Arvind Kejriwal, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, lawyer Prashant Bhushan, former Union minister Shanti Bhushan, former Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde, former journalist Manish Sisodia, poet Kumar Vishwas and activists Gopal Rai and Sanjay Singh.
IAC’s first major movement was the 13-day hunger strike by Anna Hazare from August 16 to August 28, 2011 at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi. Several protests were launched later.
Till Team Anna’s last major protest at Jantar Mantar in the national capital, when they undertook a 10-day hunger strike which ended on August 3, 2012, Arvind Kejriwal had maintained that they would not form a political party.
Kejriwal had also promised not to contest elections or hold any post.
He said, “I will never fight elections in my life. And I don’t want to hold any post in my life. I have no political ambitions.”
However, on August 3, 2012, he announced that he will form a political party. The issue created a rift with Team Anna. Anna Hazare, Kiran Bedi, Santosh Hegde and others parted ways with Arvind Kejriwal who went ahead with forming AAP in November 2012.
He first contested the Delhi assembly election in December 2013 and became chief minister. He contested the 2014 Lok Sabha election against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi and lost. He contested the Delhi assembly election in February 2015 and took oath as CM for the second consecutive term.
Arvind Kejriwal is now contesting the assembly election for the third time and is aspiring to retain his CM’s post.
2. Quitting AAP
Though Anna Hazare was against the formation of a political party, he had initially agreed to support Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP. Anna disbanded Team Anna in September 2012 after rifts emerged within the group.
During that period Arvind Kejriwal said he would follow Anna Hazare’s footsteps in the matter of quitting AAP.
He said, “The day Anna will sever ties with our political party, I will also do the same.”
However, Anna Hazare not just severed his ties with AAP but also asked Arvind Kejriwal not to use his name or photograph as part of campaigning for the 2013 Delhi assembly election.
3. Alliance with Congress
Before the 2013 Delhi election, Arvind Kejriwal had vowed not to ally either with Congress or BJP in the event of a hung assembly. He had gone to the extent of swearing on his children.
He said, “Main apne bachchon ki kasam khata hoon (I swear on my children). We will not support either BJP or Congress because the people will vote against them. BJP and Congress can form the government together because as it is, the two are together behind the stage.”
Arvind Kejriwal further said, “I am not power hungry. We will not form a coalition government because we cannot end corruption by allying either with BJP or Congress. We will sit in opposition rather than forming a coalition government. This is clear.”
However, the 2013 election did throw a hung assembly. While AAP won 28 of the total 70 seats, Congress won eight and BJP 31.
AAP and Congress joined hands to form the government with Arvind Kejriwal as the CM. However, till the 2013 assembly election, IAC and Team Anna’s main target was Congress. They had levelled serious charges of corruption against the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre and the Sheila Dikshit government in Delhi.
4. Cars and bungalows
In the run up to the 2013 Delhi assembly election, Arvind Kejriwal had claimed that AAP was against VIP culture and that if he became CM, he would live in a humble accommodation but would not avail of the official car.
He took oath as CM on December 28, 2013 and within two days, he requested not one but two five-room official bungalows adjacent to each other.
For a few days, Kejriwal and his ministers used public transport such as Metro, auto-rickshaw or even personal cars to commute to office.
However, just a day after winning the trust vote on January 2, 2014, AAP government ministers were allotted official cars. The ministers went to office on January 3 by public transport but returned in official SUVs.
5. Religion and politics
Though AAP has often declared that it was fighting to end corruption and caste and communal politics, it has indulged in religion-based politics.
A day before the 2015 Delhi assembly election was held on February 7, Jama Masjid Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari appealed to Muslims to vote for AAP.
However, Arvind Kejriwal rejected the offer. In an official tweet, his party said, “AAP condemns and rejects support of Shahi Imam. AAP is against any type of caste and communal politics.”

But later, the same AAP government launched the pilgrimage scheme for women and elderly people. Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and other leaders have often been seen attending iftars in skull cap, a sign of religious identity politics.
Earlier this week, when asked whether he was anti-Hindu, Kejriwal said he was a devotee of Lord Hanuman. He sang Hanuman Chalisa and asked the BJP leaders to do the same, saying, “it gives immense peace of mind”.

Today (February 7), a day ahead of the polling day, he even visited Hanuman Temple in New Delhi and offered prayers along with wife and daughter.