‘Coward.’ ‘Psycopath.’ Proper spelling aside, insults fly in Indian politics

Sharp tongues and fast-flying insults are common in India’s raucous politics. But statements by a senior elected official on Tuesday brought the rhetoric to another level.

After Indian authorities searched the home and office of a member of the state government of Delhi, chief executive of the capital region Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that the raid was orchestrated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a political rival.

Saying the Indian leader couldn’t “handle me politically,” Kejriwal then tweeted: “Modi is a coward and a psycopath.” [sic]

Modi’s government responded that the search was not aimed at Kejriwal and denied raiding or sealing his office, as Kejriwal claimed. Officers with the Central Bureau of Investigation, India’s main law enforcement agency, searched the home and office of Rajender Kumar, Kejriwal’s principal secretary, who is under suspicion of corruption over computer purchases under a previous government.

“The office of the chief minister of Delhi has not been raided,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament. “The raid has nothing to do with Mr. Arvind Kejriwal or his tenure as chief minister.”

That did not stop Kejriwal, who accused Jaitley of lying and said investigators should have given him advance warning of the search because he is head of Delhi’s government and the probe involved a previous administration.

Both houses of parliament were adjourned for the day after opposition lawmakers staged protests over the search.

Kejriwal, a former bureaucrat and anti-corruption campaigner, rose to prominence as leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, which means “common man.” His party defeated Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in February for control of the state government of Delhi, where New Delhi, the national capital, is located. The state and federal governments have been at loggerheads with each other over control of the city’s police force and bureaucratic appointments.

The CBI, which comes under the direction of the national home affairs ministry, has often been accused of doing the bidding of whichever party leads the central government. Before Modi came to power, a Supreme Court judge described the agency as a “caged parrot.”

The agency was criticized sharply this year for raiding the home of Teesta Setalvad, a human rights activist who has led the fight to investigate Modi over religious riots 13 years ago in Gujarat, the western state where he was serving as chief minister.

On Tuesday, members of Modi’s government demanded an apology from Kejriwal.

“Kejriwal should tender an unqualified apology to the prime minister for using words like coward,” Ravi Shankar Prasad, a cabinet minister, said. “What he said is uncalled for, unwarranted, shameful and condemnable.”

Parth M.N. is a special correspondent and Bengali a staff writer.

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