New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s close aide, Bibhav Kumar, wields unparalleled influence within the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), yet he has consistently chosen to remain in the shadows over the years.
Some of his activities have drawn attention in the past too, but nothing put a glaring spotlight on him as much as the latest controversy involving AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal.
Both Maliwal and Kumar started working with Kejriwal around the same time, around two decades ago.
Maliwal Monday called the Delhi Police control room from Kejriwal’s official residence, alleging that Kumar had “assaulted” her, according to a police diary entry. The AAP Tuesday broke its silence, stating that Kumar had “misbehaved” with Maliwal and promised action against him.
The public reprimand for Kumar was an attempt to pacify Maliwal, who has so far desisted from lodging a formal police complaint against Kumar. AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh Wednesday also met Maliwal, who was the chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) for nine years.
Kumar was photographed Wednesday by Kejriwal’s side when the AAP leader reached Lucknow. In the joint press conference that he held with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav Thursday, Kejriwal faced a barrage of questions on the Maliwal incident.
Kejriwal himself did not answer but made Singh, who was also present in the press conference, respond. “The prime minister remained quiet on atrocities against women in Manipur. He sought votes for Prajwal Revanna who is accused of sexually abusing hundreds of women. Swati Maliwal herself was dragged on the street when she had gone to seek justice for our wrestlers,” Singh said.
Kumar, who hails from Bihar, has had a long association with Kejriwal and former Deputy Chief Manish Sisodia. He worked with their NGO Parivartan, which was launched in June 2000, since its inception, working closely with them in slum areas, focusing on the public distribution system.
“People like Bibhav (Kumar), Swati (Maliwal), Aswathi Muralidharan, Neeraj Kumar, Santosh Koli, who died in an accident ahead of the 2013 assembly elections in Delhi, Rishikesh Kumar, who is AAP’s legal cell secretary, have been working with Kejriwal for years now. They have been with him since his days of struggle,” an AAP insider said to ThePrint.
The AAP leader said that Kumar is as close to Kejriwal as Sisodia, who had actually introduced him to the AAP chief first. “Post pe mat jaiye. Wo (Kumar) toh Arvind ko uske naam se hi bulate the. Aisa kuch sir, boss wala rishta nahi tha (Don’t go by his post. Kumar used to call Arvind Kejriwal by his first name. They did not have a traditional boss-employee relationship),” the AAP functionary said, underlining that it was a relationship of equals.
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Always by Kejriwal’s side
After the AAP formed government in Delhi in 2015, Kumar was appointed Kejriwal’s personal secretary, a post he held till last month when the Delhi Directorate of Vigilance sacked him from the post in connection with a 2007 case in which he was accused of using “criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty”.
“He is Kejriwal’s eyes and ears. Be it calling party leaders, or even officials, fixing Kejriwal’s daily schedule, appointments, travel, Kumar handles everything. Inko phone milao, ye dekh lo, wo dekh lo, Arvind ka pehla shabd Bibhav hi nikalta hai (call him, do this, do that. First word out of Arvind’s mouth is always Bibhav),” the functionary said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
During the India Against Corruption movement, which was led by Kejriwal with Anna Hazare as its face, Kumar’s skills as a video editor also came in handy as he handled a video magazine that used to be published then. He also handled media relations, a task he continued to do even as Kejriwal’s personal secretary despite the presence of a separate communications team.
As personal secretary, Kumar also took care of Kejriwal’s food and medicines when they are on the road. Another AAP leader recalled how Kumar was inside Raj Niwas too where Kejriwal, along with Sisodia, Satyendar Jain and Gopal Rai, led a nine-day dharna in 2018.
“He was the only person other than the ministers who stayed inside. Others were outside the LG secretariat,” the leader said.
Past controversies
The Maliwal episode is not Kumar’s first brush with a controversy as he had drawn attention even in 2015, during Kejriwal’s fight with Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan.
It had emerged that Kumar, in August 2014, had allegedly recorded his telephone conversation with journalist Chander Suta Dogra, who was then working with The Hindu, without her consent. Later, the audio of the conversation in which Dogra had named Yadav as the source of a story critical of the AAP, was used by the party to prepare the ground for his expulsion.
Soon enough, Yadav found himself out of the party. Kumar’s clout has, however, grown. He was also allotted a Type VI government bungalow later, but in August 2023, the Delhi Vigilance Department wrote to the Public Works Department directing that the allocation of the bungalow to him be cancelled and the accommodation be downgraded to Type IV instead.
Premises linked to Kumar were raided by the ED in February this year in connection with a money laundering case related to the Delhi Jal Board. Later, he was also questioned by the ED in connection with the excise policy case, which led to Kejriwal’s arrest in March. The Delhi CM is out on an interim bail currently.
While in jail, Kejriwal had given a list of six people whom he wanted to meet regularly under the prison rules. Apart from his wife Sunita Kejriwal, his son and daughter, and AAP general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak, the list included Kumar’s name.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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