New Delhi: Ramveer Singh, a 50-year old auto-rickshaw driver preferred to ignoreArvind Kejriwal's rally at Jantar Mantar on Sunday, despite dropping a passenger near the venue. Unlike in the past, he refused to be a part of the rally this time.
"What's the point? We supported Arvind Kejriwal and ensured Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) victory. But, instead of continuing as CM, he quit to be a part of the race for prime ministership, leaving us in the lurch," complained Singh.
The Aam Aadmi Party's Sunday rally at Jantar Mantar. Pallavi Polanki/Firstpost
Ramveer Singh's decision to ignore the rally as just another gimmick is the epitome of the autowallah's disappointment with Kejriwal. This is the same class of people who had whole-heartedly supported Kejriwal and his party not too long ago.
Kejriwal had climbed the popularity chart riding on the shoulders of the same class as 70 percent of the capital's autorickshaws had willingly sported AAP's posters, before the Delhi elections in November 2013. Those days 90 percent of the total 80,000 autowallahs in Delhi supported Kejriwal, out of which 70 percent of them carried posters on their back. But, today the situation is different. Hardly, 5 percent of the autowallahs are ready to carry posters. "Did Kejriwalji ensure a permanent solution for us as he had promised before the election, to free us from police harassment?" questioned Vijay Kumar, another autorickshaw driver.
On 28 July, Kejriwal organized a meeting of the autowallahs at Ramlila Maidan, which witnessed a crowd of 3000-3500, and 1800 autos, against an expectation of a big turnaround. According to those present at the venue, many of those in the gathering were AAP volunteers.
Is the autowallahs' disinterest in AAP's politics, a reflection of the city's disappointment with the former Delhi CM, who had an eventful 49-day stint with the top post beginning December last year?
"Along with auto-drivers, the common man too is disappointed with the same old negative tone of Kejriwal's politics. There is no specific agenda for development, no vision towards implementation," said Rakesh Agrawal, secretary of Nyaybhoomi, an NGO working with autowallahs and social issues.
The Sunday rally didn't have any rallying point unlike last year when Kejriwal's tirade against corruption had fired the imagination of Delhi's population.
Leading the charge against the then Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit, Kejriwal's movement had gravitas, but on Sunday he ended up suggesting that the capital's Lt Governor was following the BJP's commands. Has Kejriwal forgotten that the LG was forced to take charge of Delhi's administration when AAP had quit after 49 days of forming the government?
Even the selection of Sunday's venue - Jantar Mantar has raised queries among the citizens. One wonders why this was the venue instead of Kejriwal's popular Ramlila Maidan? "Probably because Kejriwal no longer commands numbers to fill up Ramlila ground that has a capacity of 50,000 plus, unlike Jantar Mantar, which has a small size," said Shravan Kumar Srivastava, a Mayur Vihar resident, who supported AAP during Assembly elections.
It seems that the flash point of Anna Hazare - Arvind Kejriwal's national campaign against corruption has come and gone. He had a great chance to bring change, but is now losing people's confidence, though the Sunday gathering was impressive.
"No doubt there's a decline in people's confidence for AAP, and only time will tell where the party stands, if election takes place," added Agrawal.
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