In front of 'real' aam aadmi, CM Kejriwal breaks into song

New Delhi: If you were one of those who took the Metro to the New Delhi railway station this morning, the first thing that must have hit you was the sheer number of people that were on the station today.

The New Delhi metro station is usually crowded thanks to the constant stream of travellers, but the crowds today were something else. The exit lines at the Metro Station were long… even unruly and the staff struggled to get the people out of the exit counters.

Most of these were people who had turned up, not to catch a train or take the metro to the Airport. Instead, they wanted to catch a glimpse of history; they wanted to see the swearing-in ceremony of Aam Aadmi Party’s leader Arvind Kejriwal as Delhi’s Chief Minister at the Ram Lila Maidan. The New Delhi Metro Station is the closest to the Maidan.

Outside the metro station, the roads leading to Ram Lila Maidan were teeming with people: some AAP workers, others just ordinary citizens who had turned up to see Kejriwal getting sworn in.

According to one of the police personnel in-charge, it was hard to put a number on the exact number of people who had come to see the event. One police constable told Firstpost, “There are over 30,000 chairs. But the number of people coming in is much larger.” Even his senior inspector seemed unsure of how many people would be attending.

From the queues at the gates, it didn’t look like everybody would manage to get in on time. Even at 11.50 am, the long queues outside gates 3 to 8 of Ram Lila Maidan showed no signs of ending. To the credit of the organisers, the queues were fairly organised and most of those standing in them were waiting patiently.

Ironically, it was the media gate that witnessed the most unruly behaviour, with scuffles breaking out, media cards being flashed… everyone was desperate to get in before the ceremony began. The guards at the gate, eventually closed it and didn’t let anyone come in, much to the disgruntlement of those who were left outside.

Once inside, the first thing that hit you was… once again… the sheer number of people. The Maidan was packed right up to the end, even as there were many people waiting outside. It would be safe to say that the total number of people who turned up to watch the ceremony was close to at least a lakh. Unsurprisingly, the two most prominent sights in the crowd were the waving national flags and the AAP cap.

But more than the numbers, this wasn’t a crowd that had just turned up because it was expected to. It was a crowd that cheered on as Kejriwal and his cabinet were sworn in and listened to each and every word of the man who has become Delhi’s new CM.

And Kejriwal didn’t let go of this golden opportunity. He took this swearing-in to make an effort to reach out the bureaucracy by pointing out that not all officers were corrupt. “People have been coming and telling me that Arvind ji, how will you work with the bureaucracy. All these officers are corrupt, they told me. I told them that I have met a lot of officers who are honest and are ready to work with our government. This is an opportunity for the bureaucracy of Delhi to get ready to serve the people,” he said.

Of course, in classic Kejriwal style, he also reminded party workers and ministers that their movement wasn’t about coming to power and ruling but rather about serving the people, saying, “We didn’t do all this, so that we could grab power. We must continue to serve the people.”

He then went on to caution the party against pride and arrogance. “Don’t grow arrogant. Remember, our battle was not to become ministers and MLAs. Our idea was to serve the aam aadmi. Whenever you meet people in your constituency, meet him with folded hands,” he warned.

And before he went off the stage, he couldn’t help but break into song. He had promised that he wouldn’t but he was swayed by the emotion of the moment. He chose a Manna Dey song from the 1959 film Paighaam.

Written by lyricist Pradeep, the song, “Insaan ka insaan se ho bhaichaara…” (let there be brotherhood among people) is a powerful comment on social unity and equality.

But the change was already starting to show.

Once the ceremony was over, party workers quickly ran up to the dias to scuttle their ministers out safely. “Mantri ji aa rahe hain, Mantri ji chalo chalo,” could be heard as one minister was taken to his car, surrounded by supporters. They were all whisked away in a moment, despite the media frenzy.

Outside the Ram Lila Maidan, the AAP supporters puffed up their chests and roamed around, some in cars, some walking shouting slogans, waving their party flag, and jhaados.

Vimlesh, who is an AAP supporter and  a resident of Chirag Delhi is confident that Kejriwal will stop corruption. “I have worked with this party during the campaign. I know they will fix the government and the system,” she said.

Rajender Singh, who’s been working with the party as well and is DTC employee, compared Kejriwal to a good father. “Just like a good father can impart good morals and behaviour to the children, in the same way Kejriwal who is a good man will improve the government. ” Singh is confident that Kejriwal will be the next PM and that the party will do very well in the Lok Sabha elections.

But not everyone in the crowd was an AAP supporter or party worker. Deepak Singh, an artist, had turned up to observe the swearing in and the mood at Ram Lila. “This is one of the biggest things to happen in India in recent times. So, I just came to see the mood, ” he said.

Suchetra Ray had come to Delhi from Kolkata for work and decided to turn up at the swearing in. For her, AAP is a viable third alternative. She says, “I’ve been very, very disillusioned with politics in India. This I think is the first time for me, that there’s any sense of revival, a third front which I can support. It doesn’t have an enormous nexus of corruption or an ideology of sectarian violence. It’s a great idea to give something like this a chance.”

AAP is looking beyond Delhi and has begun gearing up for the Lok Sabha elections. In effect, today’s swearing-in was an example of the kind of political show and strength that the party is capable of garnering.