As soon as news broke that two minor girls have been raped in New Delhi, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal stepped up his attack on his old adversaries - the Centre and the Delhi Police.
First, he expressed concern on Twitter about the 'repeated' rapes of minors and then through a series of tweets criticised the Prime Minister, the Lieutenant Governor and the Delhi Police. He even urged the Prime Minister to hand over control of the Delhi Police to the AAP government.
Repeated rape of minors is shameful and worrying. Delhi police has completely failed to provide safety. What are PM n his LG doing?
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 17, 2015
Am on my way to hospitals to meet rape victims
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 17, 2015
Shyam Jaju says rape is a small incident? Shameful
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 17, 2015
PM Modi shud either himslf act or give control over Delhi police n public order to elected govt of delhi या खुद करो या दूसरों को करने दो
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 17, 2015
He didn't stop at that. He put out two more tweets seeking control of the Delhi Police and then an audience with PM Modi and Najeeb Jung.
PM sir, give control of delhi police to del govt for one year. If situation does not improve, take it back
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 17, 2015
Seeking time to meet LG n PM to discuss women safety in Delhi
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 17, 2015
Kejriwal has been at loggerheads with the Delhi Police ever since he came to power the first time in 2013. In fact, during his first short stint at the government he had demonstrated against the Delhi Police and led an overnight dharna against the police.
He had infamously called the police 'thulla' in the past and even criminals in uniform.
On July 21 this year, he had aired a advertisement in all radio channels where he directly addressed the Prime Minister and alleged that he had failed to rein in the Delhi Police. He also asked him to hand over control of the police for a limited period of time to the state government.
After alleging that the Delhi Police was 'out of control' he said: "“Sir, aisa nahi hai ki policewale kharab hai, unka system kharab hai. (It is not the policemen who are bad but the system is corrupt). These people are suffering. I request you to take out an hour every week from your busy schedule for Delhi Police or give Delhi Police to us. Delhi Police should be held accountable."
Interestingly enough, this Economic Times article points out that while Kejriwal has often demanded control over Delhi Police in public rallies and announcements, he has never sought control over them formally, following governmental protocol.
The ET report says: "Applications filed by RTI activist Dev Ashish Bhattacharya have revealed that not a single letter has been sent by Kejriwal, chief minister's office or the offices of his entire Cabinet to the Home Ministry - the nodal ministry for law and order issues - for handing over the control of Delhi Police to the state government. Bhattacharya had filed an application with Home Ministry in April."
Contact HuffPost India