Arun, Arvind & Ram have axes to grind in the 10-cr damages suit

The idiom, Kill two birds with one stone, has somewhat been reversed in the case of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and noted Constitutional expert Ram Jethmalani joining hands to take on their arch-rival, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. They are apparently two stones aimed at one bird in the case of all the three leaders. Kejriwal and AAP leaders have been gunning for Jaitley over the alleged corruption in the Delhi Cricket Association, while Jaitley, who was the then DCA president, is projected as having led a clean public life. Jethmalani had senior lawyer Jaitley as his arch-rival both in the BJP and in their law practice. Because of their common rivalry, Kejriwal and Jethmalani had come together. So when Kejriwal offered the brief of fighting Jaitley legally in the latter's Rs.10-crore civil-criminal damages suit, the constitutional expert accepted it happily. Kejriwal wants to convey it to the BJP leadership that he could field a noted lawyer and also put a check on the rise and rise of Jaitley's stature. On his part, Jethmalani would like to augment his political stature as well as take on Jaitley in the court. Jaitley would not only vindicate his unblemished public career but also the BJP would like to end the vexatious and flippant charges by AAP leaders in general. Kejriwal had himself called Prime Minister Narendra Modi `psychopath' and `coward', apparently for no reason, when his Delhi Secretariat was searched by the CBI in the case of a corrupt official a week ago. Later, the Delhi Chief Minister had explained away that he belonged to Haryana, meaning he could utter what he wants. The Prime Minister in the largeness of his heart (56-inch chest) has ignored the epithets, but the BJP would not let the opportunity go.