Delhi elections: Kejriwal takes battle to Bedi turf, impresses voters with spunk

New Delhi: “This man never shies away from a fight, does he? He is incorrigible.” This was the wry remark from a local in East Delhi’s Krishna Nagar where Arvind Kejriwal held a rally on Tuesday. Krishna Nagar, for those not in the know, is a BJP bastion and now the assembly constituency of Kiran Bedi, the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate.

Spunk – that’s how many at the rally defined Kejriwal. “You have to give it to him. He took on Sheila Dikshit, then Narendra Modi and now he is taking the battle straight into the BJP stronghold. A person afraid of losing won’t do this,” said another resident. He won’t divulge whether he was an AAP supporter, but in Delhi as campaigning for the assembly polls moves into high gear it does not matter.

The fact is despite his many weaknesses Kejriwal has managed to build a brand identity for himself. The rivals maybe critical of it, and even justified in their criticism too, but there can be no denying that he has entrenched himself in the public consciousness.

It was more than evident in the road show the AAP held before the filing of nomination papers. Busy among his supporters during all day he missed the deadline. A group of staunch supporters of Kejriwal who had come all the way from the outskirts of Delhi were left a bit disappointed.

“We came with gulaal (colour) and garlands to celebrate this historical moment of filing of nomination papers of Arvindji, but unfortunately it couldn’t happen today. After all it is his popularity among the common man on the streets of Delhi that ate away the time of filing nomination,” one of the group members, Ratan Khattri, told Firstpost after the end of the road show.

The road show was in fact a big show of strength and the first-of-its-kind in this season. More than 3,000 AAP members and supporters, donning party’s white topi (cap) and holding jhaadu (brooms), participated in the 7-km rally in New Delhi. He will now file his papers from the prestigious New Delhi constituency on Wednesday, which is the last day of filing the nomination.

Kicking off the rally, Kejriwal termed the upcoming polls a ‘dharma yudh’ of the good versus the bad. “People of Delhi will script history by giving AAP the single largest majority as they want to convert those 49-days of good governance into five years… BJP is a machine of lies and rumours,” he said.

He made several stops along the route with his supporters raising slogans, singing and dancing, with one group even breaking into a flash mob dance on the way. The AAP chief through Twitter had asked his supporters to take the day off to participate in his rally.

“It’s a duty for us. We’re here to back Arvind ji and, wish him and AAP a great success,” said Tanmay, a Delhi University student.

Added AAP spokesperson Ashutosh, who was also a part of the procession said, “When there is a celebration at home, all the members participate in it; today’s celebration for AAP is similar and all its members and supporters have gathered to express solidarity and show that they are with Arvind Kejriwal.”

The mood of the AAP members was upbeat and they left no stone unturned to display their high decibel enthusiasm by raising slogans, singing and dancing. A large number of men and women got close to Kejriwal and posed for ‘Selfies’. The road show had 14-points or halts with themes based on the issues related to Delhi Dialogue like youth and education, women’s safety, Jan Lokpal, Swaraj etc.

When the rally reached the GPO, Harish Saraswat, a retired school teacher and an AAP supporter, echoing Kejriwal’s statement, said, “I fully agree with what Kejriwalji said - AAP made history in Delhi in 2013 and again Delhi will be a witness to another history on February 10. AAP will create history.”

History or not, victory or defeat, Arvind Kejriwal surely is already a winner.