Raghav Chadha is a mine of information, some of it highly explosive. AAP’s Delhi government minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, however, says Chadha is nearly blind with a “critical eye complication” during this crucial time when Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is cooling his heels in a cell in Delhi’s Tihar Jail with two phases of the 2024 general elections done and dusted with.

Bharadwaj used the words “lost his eyesight” to describe Raghav Chadha’s visual incapacity to see what’s happening right under his nose. These days Chadha is in the United Kingdom, getting treatment there for his “eye complication”. Raghav Chadha was last seen in the Upper House in January this year when the Budget Session of Parliament was underway. Raghav Chadha is a Chartered Accountant and might know the calculations to throw light on the AAP government’s financial indulgences regarding the Delhi liquor policy.

From what’s been said and heard, Chadha’s absence helps the jailed Delhi Chief Minister more than Chadha’s return to Delhi. Chadha’s actor wife Parineeti Chopra has returned but not the allegedly sightless Chadha. Raghav Chadha blind as a bat is good tidings for Arvind Kejriwal, whose sojourn in Tihar so far has been very eventful.

The Delhi High Court had something to say about Kejriwal’s unwavering decision to rule Delhi from behind bars and would like Kejriwal to step aside and make way for somebody else from AAP becoming Chief Minister. But both the BJP and the AAP are interpreting the Delhi High Court’s observations in the manner each wants to and that leaves nothing to choose.

So far, despite Kejriwal being consigned behind bars, the BJP hasn’t been able to bend Kejriwal to its will. And, if the AAP is suffering, the signs do not tell. The AAP-Congress alliance in Delhi is working fine despite a couple of setbacks. AAP backs Congress candidate Kanhaiya Kumar to the hilt and the other Congress candidate, Udit Raj, also has the AAP’s back.

Apparently, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has not only got the better of diabetes, he has also succeeded in installing his wife Sunitha Kejriwal in the heads and hearts of Delhi voters who favour Kejriwal over Congress and BJP leaders. Besides, Kejriwal also has the backing of his ministers, Saurabh Bharadwaj and Atishi Marlena in particular. Arvind Kejriwal’s wife Sunitha Kejriwal and Atishi Marlena visited Kejriwal in Tihar and emerged talking of Kejriwal being “treated worse than a terrorist” in jail.

Sunitha Kejriwal was appalled and Atishi Marlena couldn’t hold back her outrage. Sunitha then took out a roadshow and it was a fitting tribute to Kejriwal’s unending rule. Delhi will continue to have a Kejriwal at the helm. Makes people wonder what’s different between Lalu Prasad Yadav and Arvind Kejriwal. AAP’s other heavyweight Rajya Sabha member, Sanjay Singh, meanwhile, is at the top of his game and a useful member of the Aam Aadmi Party at a time when the AAP is rudderless and leaderless.

Sanjay Singh sounded happy that Kejriwal is ruling Delhi from jail and in control despite meddlesome bureaucrats from the Lt. Guv’s Office. The Delhi MCD is also firmly under Kejriwal’s thumb and the Delhi Government is not showing signs of slipping out of Kejriwal’s control. AAP is sticking to its guns and Arvind Kejriwal will remain Delhi Chief Minister despite the Delhi High Court observing that no one who holds the CM’s post can be “incommunicado or absent” for long periods.

The AAP is ready to throw a fit if Kejriwal is “removed” because AAP on its own will not “remove Kejriwal”. Besides, Sunitha Kejriwal is more or less in control and AAP will be led by one Kejriwal or the other. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 this year and has been in some sort of custody ever since. The diabetic and his party face a tough Lok Sabha elections which the party is fighting in alliance with the Congress in the seven Lok Sabha seats of Delhi.

What are AAP’s chances? The polling on May 25 in Delhi Lok Sabha seats and the results on June 4 will reveal. The decision that he will continue to rule Delhi from jail could prove to be AAP’s downfall. But Arvind Kejriwal is looking for a sympathy wave and the party is consoling itself with “Kejriwal will remain Chief Minister because the people of Delhi want Arvind Kejriwal to remain Chief Minister.” The big AAP story, however, is the discovery of Sunitha Kejriwal. Sunitha Kejriwal has the same qualifications as Arvind Kejriwal and "Chief Minister Sunitha Kejriwal" has an Aam Aadmi ring to it. So, if not Arvind, it will be Arvind's wife. (IPA Service)