Will acquittal by trial court help Kejriwal make a comeback?
Going by the court ruling, it would be safe to conclude that it was virtually an open-and-shut case.
The acquittal of leading opposition politician Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia by a trial court in a corruption case yesterday (February 27) marks an important moment in the country's polarised political landscape.
Not because of the individuals involved, but more due to the dressing-down given by the special court to the prosecuting agency, CBI, for failing to provide even the prima facie evidence to launch a trial.
Going by the court ruling, it would be safe to conclude that it was virtually an open-and-shut case.
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Post-discharge in the case filed in 2022, Kejriwal, who was Delhi chief minister three times and Aam Aadmi Party supremo, is back in politics with a bang.
At a press conference soon after the court verdict, Kejriwal was back to his belligerent best politically. He accused none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah of hatching independent India's "biggest political conspiracy" against him.
The charges of corruption against Kejriwal are no doubt the main factor leading to the defeat of the AAP in the Delhi assembly election in 2025, as they created an all-pervasive public negative perception against the party and its leaders.
The election brought Modi's BJP back to power.
So Kejriwal had been waiting for his turn to get back at the saffron party.
This was facilitated by the court's giving him an acquittal. Buoyed by the court ruling, Kejriwal challenged Modi and Shah to face fresh assembly polls in the national capital, framing a political bait.
The question being asked now in political circles is: will the court judgment help Kejriwal make a political comeback after losing the Delhi assembly election and once again revive his ambition on the national political scene, which was dented by the defeat in the Delhi polls?
Corruption charges are nothing new in India, but none was as high-profile a case as the Delhi excise policy row that led to the jailing of the entire frontline AAP leadership.
Kejriwal was arrested on 21 March 2024 and spent a little over five months in prison. Sisodia was in jail for nearly 15 months.
What is more, this was the first time a sitting chief minister of India was jailed in a graft case.
The acquittal of Kejriwal has galvanised the entire anti-BJP political spectrum to attack the ruling party afresh for "political vendetta" and for using federal probe agencies to target the opposition on allegations of corruption.
True, the legal finality in the case against Kejriwal is awaited because the CBI has challenged the special court ruling in the Delhi High Court.
Kejriwal has maintained a very low profile ever since he lost the Delhi assembly election. The court verdict will come as a big boost to the ruling AAP in Punjab, where the party led by Kejriwal has been focusing on preparing ground for assembly elections next year.
There is no doubt the AAP will use to the hilt Kejriwal's acquittal not just in Punjab but also in Modi-Shah's home state Gujarat, where the AAP contested separately in the last assembly election, making a dent mainly in Congress's support base.
In the previous assembly elections in Punjab, the AAP defeated the Congress, winning 92 of the total of 117 seats with a vote share of 40%. The Congress got 18 seats and the BJP just two.
Among the opposition INDIA alliance, Congress's reaction to Kejriwal getting acquitted stood out. The party would perhaps be anxious about the impact of this, especially in Punjab, where Congress would have hoped to pin the AAP on corruption issues.
Congress used the judgment to target not just the BJP but also took a swipe against the AAP by labelling it a "convenient ally" of the saffron party.
According to Congress's Media and Publicity Cell chief Pawan Khera, Kejriwal's acquittal was a "predictable script."
Congress's anxiety about the AAP capitalising on the acquittal of Kejriwal in Punjab was most evident in Khera's remark that 'the BJP is not a political party. It is a shape-shifter, a wishful serpent – 'Icchadhari Naag'. It will stoop to any level for one obsessive goal: defeat Congress – 'Congress Mukt Bharat.'"
Khera was more forthright by pointing out that elections are coming in Tamil Nadu too and "cases against Congress leaders will suddenly accelerate – P Chidambaram has already been dragged back into the spotlight because Tamil Nadu is going to the polls. Meanwhile, proceedings against their convenient allies in the AAP and others will quietly vanish in light of the Gujarat and Punjab elections," Khera said.
The BJP has dismissed these allegations.
