Srinagar, July 20 -- There is something impressive about a chief minister who wins an election and then spends the remainder of his term explaining why winning it was practically useless. Omar Abdullah is slowly perfecting this art. He occupies the chair, commands a large legislative mandate, presides over ministers - and increasingly speaks like a gentleman who wandered into government while searching for the opposition benches.

This is where the Kejriwal comparison begins. Not because Omar wears a muffler or intends to launch a broom in Kashmir. The resemblance lies in a political habit: converting every constitutional limitation into a daily grievance, every disagreement with the Centre into a morality play, and every administrative q...