Samajwadi Party Supremo Akhilesh Yadav sat next to Kejriwal at the joint presser. Kejriwal is out on interim bail in the Delhi liquor policy case and is scheduled to return to Tihar on June 2. He will watch the election results from the close confines of his Tihar cell. For now, however, Kejriwal is caught in the curious case of a “missing Rajya Sabha MP”, who got slapped and roughed up by Kejriwal’s personal secretary “Bhibav Kumar” in the Delhi CM House.

Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal is the victim and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal her alleged tormentor. Unconfirmed reports say Maliwal and Kejriwal got into a tiff after Kejriwal allegedly demanded that Maliwal vacate her Rajya Sabha seat. Maliwal replied “over my dead body” and Kejriwal’s 'PA' Bhibav Kumar stepped in with the coup de grace.

The story goes that Maliwal’s Rajya Sabha seat was to be the legal fee for the hi-fi lawyer who defended Kejriwal in the ED case against him. Swati Maliwal doesn’t understand the fix Kejriwal is in. Kejriwal made Swati head of the Delhi Women’s Commission for two consecutive terms and then Rajya Sabha MP.

A call went to the cops and Swati even landed up at the cop-house but left without lodging a case, much to the disappointment of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been out in the streets since then, demanding Kejriwal resignation. But where’s Swati Maliwal? Swati’s ex-husband says her life is in danger and AAP strongman Sanjay Singh admitted that Maliwal was subjected to “obscene treatment" for which Kejriwal will take strict action.

But who is Kejriwal to take action in a criminal case of assault with innuendos attached! Wild stories are floating, most in question form. Why did Swati Maliwal go to the ‘CM House’ at 9.30 am? Was she summoned by Kejriwal? What was Sunitha Kejriwal doing in the room? Shazia Ilmi, a former AAP leader who is now with the BJP, says Arvind Kejriwal deals out “instant justice” and “has no feelings at all.”

“Arvind and Bhibav are two of a kind. What Arvind thinks, Bhibav carries out,” said Shazia, like Kejriwal was a ruthless gang-lord and Bhibav his menacing lieutenant. Others say Kejriwal cannot “punish” Bhibav because the “personal assistant” knows too much about the “Delhi liquor scam”. Such that if you string up Bhibav, Kejriwal will hang!

That is the fix Kejriwal finds himself in after Swati Maliwal gets hammered for refusing Kejriwal what he thinks is his due. At the joint presser, Kejriwal pushed the mike towards Akhilesh Yadav when asked "where’s Swati Maliwal gone to?" Akhilesh in turn passed the buck to “there are more important issues to discuss”, like the one about “Yogi Adityanath will lose his job in three months” if the Bharatiya Janata Party wins the elections.

Kejriwal first spoke of Adityanath losing his job the day he walked out of Tihar and long before Swati stepped into the CM House. So, Kejriwal was not trying to mislead and divert after the Maliwal maelstrom broke. Kejriwal is fighting to remain free as a bird and not as a jailbird. One experience of Tihar is enough for most aam aadmi.

Kejriwal cannot be behind bars when Modi scraps reservations for SC/ST and OBC. Much to the relief of Akhilesh Yadav, Kejriwal cut himself short and asserted that “reports ke mutabik INDIA Alliance jeet raha hai.” So, nothing will happen – the BJP will not win; Amit Shah will not become Prime Minister and Yogi Adityanath will not be sacked in three months, but INDI-Alliance will post a big-big election victory.

Arvind Kejriwal the Oracle! The man who went to jail and will return to jail but has to pay with a Rajya Sabha seat for the 21-day interim bail. The lawyer’s fee is reportedly in the crores of rupees and Aam Aadmi Party is in financial doldrums. Worse, the Enforcement Directorate is hot on AAP’s money trail and there is talk that a top AAP leader took the money and ran off to London; that Swati Maliwal was in the CM House to discuss “crypto currency” with Kejriwal.

End of story, the Curious Case of the Missing Swati Maliwal has put the focus fully on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and this at a time when the crucial Lok Sabha polls for seven Delhi constituencies is scheduled for May 25.. Kejriwal’s time should be fully devoted to election campaign and not diverted to the other issues including predicting Amit Shah as the future Prime Minister. (IPA Service)