AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal’s roadshow, ‘Walk with Kejriwal’ on 20 January was cheered and greeted so enthusiastically that the chief minister had to delay filing his nomination till the next day. Flags, the AAP broom, a sea of white caps and balloons accompanied Kejriwal as he cruised past on a bright yellow jeep.
Pictures by: Shrey Gupta
“How can I leave all you people,” quipped Kejriwal clearly moved by the outpouring of support. The roadshow started from the historic Valmiki Temple as in 2013. Kejriwal was accompanied by his family, Manish Sisodia, deputy chief minister and the AAP Rajya Sabha MP, Sanjay Singh.
Around 800 volunteers are part of AAP’s campaign. His young supporters danced and sang to AAP’s tag line, ‘Acche Beete Paanch Saal, Lage Raho Kejriwal'. AAP’s party base cuts across community, class, caste and age barriers.
Finally, Kejriwal filed his nomination on January 21 after an excruciating seven- hour wait at the election office. The BJP has fielded Yuva Morcha president Sunil Yadav and the Congress, former Delhi NSUI president Romesh Sabharwal from the New Delhi constituency against Arvind Kejriwal. Both are considered light weights.
Kejriwal has clearly stolen a march before his rivals. He launched the AAP election campaign early and his party cadre has hit the road running, leaving nothing to chance.
Kejriwal has appealed to the citizens of the city to give his party another five years so that they can do more for the city. A guarantee card was released by him at the start of the campaign promising the people of Delhi a list of 10 measures—from cleaning the river Yamuna to world class education, piped drinking water, reduction in air pollution, planting of 7.2 crore trees and a debris free-city.
People are happy about inexpensive water and electricity. Those living in unauthorised colonies and slums say for the first time they are getting access to services. The transformation of government schools and setting up of mohalla clinics has been appreciated. Transport has also been made safe and free for women.
