 "'Mini Kejriwal' Avyan Tomar seen outside former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's residence as the counting of the votes began in Delhi. ANI")
All eyes have turned to Delhi today (February 8) as the votes for the capital are being tabulated. The question everyone wants to know is whether it will be the return of Arvind Kejriwal or a ghar wapsi for the PM Modi-led BJP.
But that’s not the only thing that’s grabbing people’s eyeballs. Away from the numbers and figures, a little boy has caught the media’s attention for his resemblance to the former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, earning him the nickname — ‘Mini Kejriwal’.
Catch the live updates from Delhi Assembly election counting here
But who is ‘mini Kejriwal, who was caught outside the Aam Aadmi Party chief’s house this morning?
- ‘Mini Kejriwal’, as the media is calling him, is Avyan Tomar, a young supporter of the AAP. Dressed in a blue-coloured sweater with a white collar and a green puff jacket, Tomar also put on spectacles and a moustache to resemble Kejriwal.
Avyan’s father, Rahul Tomar, is an AAP supporter, who was quoted by NDTV as saying, “We always come here on result days.”
This isn’t Avyan’s first time dressing as Kejriwal. It all began in 2020 when Avyan was spotted outside the AAP chief’s house amid the Delhi Assembly election results. At the time, he was seen wearing a red sweater, sporting moustache, and an AAP cap with a muffler wrapped around his head.
Even the Twitter, now called X, handle of the AAP had shared the image at the time, calling him the “mufflerman”.
Following the election results, in which the AAP swept through Delhi, Avyan was invited for Kejriwal’s swearing-in ceremony too. That year the AAP won 62 out of the 70 Assembly seats. The BJP improved its tally winning eight seats, while the Congress — which had ruled the national capital between 1998 and 2013 — did not get any seats.
Avyan even donned a turban and a moustache to resemble Punjab Chief Minister and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann, along with the signature Kejriwal muffler following the party’s surprise win in the Punjab Assembly elections in 2022.
- It is left to be seen if ‘mini Kejriwal’ proves lucky for the AAP this time around. The exit polls have given the BJP an edge over the AAP, which has been in power in Delhi since 2015. According to the predictions, the BJP will win at least 45 to 55 of Delhi’s 70 seats, while the ruling AAP will suffer major losses.
With inputs from agencies