Arvind Kejriwal's big Delhi roadshow gets lukewarm response

The Aam Aadmi Party’s familiar drill, ‘jhaadu lagao, beimaan bhagao’ got a lukewarm response in Old Delhi on Sunday morning. The public interaction rally appeared to be more of an appeasing tactic than a show of what the party stands for. [caption id=“attachment_122121” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Roadshow gets lukewarm response.[/caption] AAP’s entourage moved through their first stop, Majnu ka tila, armed with the brooms and Gandhi topis, volunteers shouting slogans to get attention. The road show started with a few party leaders including Kumar Vishwas and Prashant Bhushan leading the bandwagon. It appeared that the leaders were trying valiantly to create an action replay of the crowd frenzy they whipped up during the 2011 and 2012 anti corruption movement rallies. Kumar Vishwas stood amidst the crowd and urged onlookers to join their rally. “Aam Aadmi Party came into existence for the aam aadmi, we promise a clean government, Arvind and all of us promise to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill, we need your support. Jhaadu ko vote do, beimaan ko saaf karo,” he pleads. Arvind Kejriwal himself is missing in action till 11 am. Crowds (mostly volunteers) celebrated the anti corruption poster boy, who addressed those present with his trademark frankness. “We want an honest government, the Aam Aadmi Party is the aam aadmi’s party, we will bring a change only if we get voted by you all,” he said. The road show was aimed at testing the waters, to feel the pulse of voters on the ground. The party used all its power and muscle in this exercise, but the cavalcade didn’t  have fancy cars or jeeps, it had humble vehicles of volunteers and party leaders. On their way to Methai Pul, the AAP rally faced a hurdle. According to the Election Commission guidelines, more than ten vehicles are not allowed in election rallies, and the party was clearly violating the rules. The cavalcade had to be cut short to only ten vehicles. The road show continued after a small break. Volunteers reasoned that the thin crowds were because it was a Sunday. “People are with AAP even if they are not here in large numbers. We know we have their support, the crowds will turn up as we proceed,” said the party worker. The next destination was Chandni Chowk, a stronghold of the Congress party. Here. Kejriwal continued his chant, “We’ll teach the Congress the politics of jhaadu.” Though the entourage was cruising through the busiest market in Delhi, the onlookers were only curious, not really excited, to listen to the anti-corruption crusader. In fact, at peak of the roadshow, the maximum headcount wasn’t more than 250. “I am not sure if he (Kejriwal) will gain anything, he was initially against politics and now we see him doing the same thing,” said Gopal Ram, a resident of Chandni Chowk, clearly unaffected by the rally. A party volunteer, who refused to be named said, “Even if this exercise doesn’t help in capturing seats, we will at least get a good voter margin, it is important that our party is at least known to all constituencies.”