The Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi is bent on digging its own grave. The other day, it took out full-page ads in all major English and Hindi papers to rubbish a news report of a popular Hindi television channel which spoke of a scandal in the sale of onions by the Delhi Government. That the city government had mishandled the situation arising out of the seasonal shortage of onions is undeniable. But stung to the quick by the charge that the onions it had purchased in bulk from the National Agricultural Co-operative Marketing Federation were sold at a huge mark-up, it splurged some Rs. 1.5 crore rupees on buying full-page ads in major dailies to deny the charge. The same money could have been better spent on reducing the price of onions by a few rupees per kilogram but then the AAP boss and Delhi Chief Minister is a law unto himself.
Several opposition leaders have accused him of wasting the public money on countering a news report. The same objective could have been achieved had Kejriwal convened a press conference. But, then, having raised the advertisement budget of the Delhi Government from a modest Rs. 26 crores to Rs. 526 crores per annum, Kejriwal has no qualms misusing the taxpayers’ funds for self-glorification. Every inch of advertising space on the capital’s roads has been bought by Kejriwal for tom-tomming the achievements of his government in the first six months of its existence. Such reckless waste of public funds must stop. If Kejriwal must hype up his image, he should rely on party funds, of which there seems to be no shortage either, rather than waste public money on such partisan agendas. As someone said, he did not think of taking out such full-page ads to meet the challenge of the dengue fever. But, then, being a Pakhandi, Kejriwal must take your money in order to tell you as to how great he is.
