Was the Delhi High Court's rejection of Arvind Kejriwal's petition challenging the legality of his arrest the beginning of the end of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the capital? The rejection was followed by the resignation of Kejriwal's colleague in the cabinet, Rajkumar Anand. Anand is not a high-profile leader. Neither is he a heavyweight member of the party.

But this clearly indicates that all is not well in the party and there is serious murmur within about how it has been run in the last few years. I am not speculating that many more resignations are expected, though that cannot be ruled out either. It may also not be improbable that Anand has resigned due to the pressures of the investigating agencies. Attacking opposition governments and parties using these agencies is no longer a secret; in fact, it has become a norm now.

Several attempts have been made to target the AAP since the resignation of the Kejriwal government in 2014. A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader was caught on camera offering Rs 4 crore to an AAP MLA then. In Kejariwal's second stint as chief minister, when Kapil Mishra, a minister was sacked, a serious attempt was made to lure a large section of MLAs to dislodge the government. However, due to a timely intervention, those attempts did not work. But the AAP is extremely vulnerable today.

This is the first time that the AAP is operating in an environment where Kejriwal is not available 24/7. Though he has not resigned as CM and continues to be the national convener of the party, his manoeuvring capacity is extremely limited. The party is basically trying to swim without his........

© NDTV