AThe arrest of Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia by the Central Bureau of Investigation in a case where he is not even named in the charge sheet is a travesty of due process of law. During the investigation, the CBI raided his official residence, village residence and bank locker, but found no evidence of money transactions. Insisting on his custodial interrogation is nothing but a ploy to humiliate him and tarnish the image of the party.
It is a transparent attempt to punish Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for winning back-to-back elections (in Delhi and then Punjab) and expanding in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home turf – Gujarat – and beyond. If his arrest was not enough, Sisodia’s eventual resignation due to the need to appoint new ministers is a heartbreaking moment for AAP supporters and champions of public education across India.
AAP’s reaction to Sisodia’s arrest is unprecedented. Party workers gheraoed local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) offices in all the states where the party is active. AAP MLA, Councilor and MP have taken charge in Delhi and Punjab the streets, Never in recent memory have you united around a political moment so seamlessly. For Sisodia, this mobilization is a result of his unique position in Indian politics. For those who see politics as a vehicle for change, he is a symbol of the state’s ability to deliver tangible results against all odds. The cynics among us, regardless of personal leanings, have a soft corner for him as he is considered a reluctant politician.
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The Beginning on the Sixth Floor, Team 610
The son of a government school teacher in Uttar Pradesh, Sisodia got the education portfolio and made it his mission to make public education a top priority of the AAP government as well as the party’s main political issue. Like any other state, the Public Works Department (PWD) of Delhi is considered to be the most lucrative. The budgetary allocation to PWD makes its ministerial and secretary posts the most sought-after jobs. But Sisodia, who took over as Delhi’s finance minister in 2015, changed it forever. He doubled The education budget earmarks almost a quarter of the capital’s total budget for this.
In 2016, when I first joined Sisodia’s education team as a volunteer, I saw firsthand his style of functioning and what made him such a powerhouse in the Kejriwal government. The first one was the Deputy Chief Minister’s room on the sixth floor of the Delhi Secretariat. In officialThe proximity of the Dome to the minister’s room is proportional to the officer’s power. And the room immediately after his secretary belonged to his education advisor Atishi Singh, from where ‘Team 610’ operated – named after her room number. Team 610 consisted of the nimble soldiers of Sisodia’s mission. Mobilized by him and Atishi, they were the eyes and ears of the Education Minister’s office.
From top to bottom, the entire operation was a model of decentralization. Kejriwal provided broad direction and guidance for his political mandate of reforming government schools, but beyond that, he gave Sisodia a free hand. The latter, in turn, conceived the framework of reforms and implemented them through his trusted lieutenant Atishi and Team 610. Over the years, this team of volunteers and interns expanded to become NGO partners that specialized in five pillars of reforms: parent involvement, teacher training, curriculum development, middle management capacity building, and infrastructure development.
They tapped some of the best talent in the education sector to collaborate and recruit professionals to manage and monitor the progress of the reforms. His team-building process extended to three key stakeholders, who he explained were part of his team: teachers, students, and their parents.
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my first experience
In July 2017, when my 21-year-old migrant from Mumbai could not afford the rent in Delhi on his own, Sisodia opened his doors to me and let me stay in a servant’s quarters at his residence. On my first morning, I was woken up at 6 am by one of his colleagues. She excitedly knocked on my door and asked, “Do you want to go on a school trip with Sir?” When I stepped into the driveway, I saw a smiling Sisodia waiting for his official car to arrive so he could go to the government school. I had only heard about his morning visits to school, but now I was able to see him too. That day we attended three school assembly sessions. Sisodia didn’t speak at first, only passed the mike among the students, asking them what they thought about their school and the importance of education. He gave a short speech at the end, assuring the students and teachers that there was never a better time to be in a Delhi government school. ,Khadi is with you. You have to stand up for education. all ready, (Government stands with you. You have to gear up for education. Are you all ready?)” Sisodia said.
Within the first three years, age-old school desks were replaced, annual maintenance of buildings institutionalized, 8,000 New classes (number Went up to 20,000 in 2022), many ‘tentgonna Schools were closed, parents of students were invited to participate in school management through formal committees, teachers were trained in world-class institutions, middle management was provided with capacity building programs and Most importantly, quality education was imparted to the students. , Sisodia revived the dying organization with his grit and determination.
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Why did BJP take so long?
Arresting Sisodia had been on the BJP’s wish list for a long time. On several occasions earlier, the AAP had indicated the CBI’s intention to arrest Sisodia. But the BJP hesitated as it struggled to convince the public that it had done something wrong. They were projected from the AAP’s eventual victory in the 2022 municipal elections in Delhi. Days after the AAP was able to elect its mayor, Shelly Oberoi, in the city, the BJP saw it had nothing more to lose and decided to arrest Sisodia.
Why was it so difficult for the BJP to arrest Sisodia earlier? Apart from his association with Arvind Kejriwal’s unblemished image, Sisodia has also enjoyed a reputation as someone who is beyond politics, keeps his head down, and just works. Why go after India’s favorite education minister? Sisodia’s goodwill across party lines is proof of this endorsement His education was championed by all kinds of politicians – including MK Stalin of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, Left leaders, and many others.
Kejriwal has often been criticized for being a minister without portfolio. But in fact, it is because of Kejriwal’s ability to engage the BJP and the Lt Governor in Delhi’s multiple power politics that Sisodia got the cover he needed. With the Lieutenant Governor and the Center bent on making every state government’s decision difficult to implement, political management is a full-time job. Kejriwal paved the way for his ministers to achieve what they set out to do by getting rid of the hurdles created by the Centre, sometimes through public confrontation, sometimes through effective use of the judicial process. Kejriwal-Sisodia’s friendship had taken the form of friendship to the dream team of governance.
vendetta politics exposed
Both leaders prepared to replace Sisodia and Satyendar Jain (whoever was) Arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in May 2022), Atishi and Saurabh Bhardwaj have big spots to fill. But they are also better positioned to carry on the legacy created by both former ministers. Atishi has spent many years working under Sisodia, and Bhardwaj has also spent a lot of time with Jain while serving as vice-chancellor of the Delhi Jal Board.
In Modi’s India, where political leaders concentrate both power and political capital, Kejriwal has repeatedly publicly blamed Sisodia for Delhi’s education reforms. Which other state minister in India has got such support from his chief minister? Unfortunately for Sisodia, however, it cost him his freedom in the short term. But harassment of a national hero like Manish Sisodia by the Modi government is one of the saddest incidents in recent times. Mature societies reward people like him and set an example for others. Vengeance politics has exposed what we have always known about Modi: It is always himself before the country.
Good politics would have been for the BJP to learn from Sisodia’s book, copy his work in their states, and improve his record. Instead, it has chosen the path of dirty politics which makes one cynical about the future of the country under this dictatorial regime.
Akshay Marathe is the spokesperson of AAP and is a public policy graduate from Harvard University. Thoughts are personal.
(Edited by Hamra Like)