Kumar Vishwas takes a U-turn, apologises to Arun Jaitley in defamation case

Aam Aadmi Party leader, now sidelined, Kumar Vishwas had targetted the party chief Arvind Kejriwal in April 2018, for apologising to BJP leader Arun Jaitley. He had also maintained in the media, that he will not apologise and shall continue to fight the legal battles employing his own lawyers. On Monday, however, Vishwas apologised to Union Minister Arun Jaitley in the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) defamation case.

According to the reports, the poet-turned-politician in the letter to Jaitley had requested him to withdraw the defamation lawsuit. Vishwas in the letter has said that his statements were based on Kejriwal’s claims and he was acting like any other political worker or leader who has to defend the utterances of the party chief.

Subsequently, the Delhi High Court disposed of the case against Vishwas.

The AAP leaders, including Vishwas, Kejriwal and Sanjay Singh had levelled serious allegations against Jaitley while speaking about alleged financial irregularities in DDCA in December 2015. In April this year, all AAP leaders except Vishwas had tendered their apology to the Union Finance Minister.

Back then, Vishwas had taken a moral high ground and had refused to apologise. Taking a dig at Kejriwal, Vishwas had said, “Jaitley will accept your (Kejriwal) apology but what about the party workers against whom cases are registered.” He appealed to the party to ensure that the pending legal cases against 11,000 AAP workers should be finished first.

Later in April, after being acquitted in another case, Vishwas had targeted the AAP leadership in harsh words.

In the past one month, Vishwas possibly went through a heart change that triggered this change in stand. In his letter, the AAP leader has in a way made Kejriwal accountable for his statements.