"In politics, there are no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests."
This is a slightly reworded version of a quote from a speech which can be traced back to Lord Palmerston (John Henry Temple) — a mid-19th century British Prime Minister. But more than 150 years later, the quote may accurately describe the relationship between two national parties in India — the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
For context, let's look at two key political events which shook Delhi and Punjab over the last month.
On 26 February, Manish Sisodia, Delhi's deputy Chief Minister and one of Arvind Kejriwal's closest aides, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy scam. As Sisodia gears up to completes one month in prison, the AAP has maintained that his arrest is part of a witch hunt by the BJP, executed with the help of the central agencies.
Moving to Punjab, on 18 March, the state police launched a mega operation to arrest Amritpal Singh, the chief of Waris Punjab De — a pro-Khalistan outfit floated by actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu in September 2021. After Sidhu's death in a car accident, Singh, Dubai returnee, took over as the chief of the the organisation. The crackdown on Singh and his supporters was launched with the help of central agencies with several reports suggesting that the Union Minister of Home Affairs and the National Security Advisor were in the loop regarding the entire operation.