AAP's Delhi drama isn't sheer madness, there is a method in it

and his party's dharna in Delhi seeking suspension of personnel of the city police for alleged negligence of duty. This looks quite an unprecedented event in Indian politics. Even Mamata Banerjee, considered one of the most maverick of chief ministers in the country, hasn't done anything similar so far.

Is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ministers' dharna a fight for justice for the people of Delhi? Or is this an abuse of political power? What AAP minister law minister Somnath Bharti did last Tuesday by staging a street tamasha with the Delhi Police was a brazen display of political influence and not an earnest effort to improve the situation for a common citizen.

The AAP is working on its poll prospects by threatening constitutional norms

The face-off between the AAP ministers led by Kejriwal and the central authorities and Delhi Police is a stunning development. But this is no madness by the AAP's protesting ministers. There is a method in it. By taking on the Delhi Police which is under the central authority for allegedly defying one of its minister's orders, the AAP is basically working on its Lok Sabha calculation. It is a two-pronged strategy.

First, by taking on a force which is under the central authority, the AAP is trying to cash in on the strong anti-incumbency mood prevailing against the Congress-led government at the Centre and in the process, is targetting to improve its electoral image before the Lok Sabha polls due in a few months. This is an over-offensive strategy of the AAP to corner a discredited UPA regime. The message to the people is: "See, the Centre doesn't care for the security of the common people in Delhi as its forces ignore a democratically elected government." This is an abuse of the democratic power, to say the least.

The other strategy is more defensive. Through this mocktail of civil disobedience and non-cooperation movement, the AAP leadership is keeping its exit route safe. The party simply can not afford to continue in power with its minority status in the government and the daily chaos and the day its leadership realises that there is not much room to manouver, it can simply pull out putting the blame on everybody else.

The AAP initially disliked the Congress and BJP but after coming to power, it has grown a strong disliking for the police, court and a section of the media. One wouldn't be surprised if the AAP's moral superiority asks it to quit the job and return to the streets. The Delhi tamasha is just the beginning.