Dharna politics: Pushed to the brink, Arvind Kejriwal hits street, again

Four years on, Kejriwal and his ministers have returned to what his detractors describe as "anarchic" forms of protest

On a cold January night four years ago, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his colleagues slept outside the Rail Bhawan, protesting the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s shoddy treatment of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dispensation. Specifically, the AAP was protesting the Central government’s refusal to act against the policemen who were unwilling to cooperate with then AAP law minister Somnath Bharti. The AAP accused the policemen of refusing to facilitate a raid Bharti was conducting on a suspected drug and prostitution racket in South Delhi.

Addressing reporters and party workers gathered outside Rail Bhawan, Kejriwal said, “It