Kejri reaches out to City the aam aadmi way

He came, he saw and he conquered, well almost! The first South India sojourn of Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal, despite the sparse crowds in some City pockets, received an enthusiastic response from curious onlookers and party volunteers from across Bangalore on Saturday. 

Kejriwal and volunteers reached out to Bangaloreans through their road show for ushering in a change in Karnataka politics. The roadshow saw the usual media frenzy despite his criticism of their political biases, volunteers shouting slogans of anti-corruption and of course, the aam aadmi. 

Punctuality marked his date with the City till he abruptly ended the yatra in the evening, due to fatigue. 

Familiarising the AAP candidates for the three Lok Sabha seats of Bangalore, Kejriwal was instrumental in drawing out crowds from the comfort of their homes to meet them on a weekend. 

While some AAP supporters garlanded him with flowers, others pulled out their phones to click photographs of the man they all know as the one who ushered in a change in Indian politics and showed that even a common man can dream of becoming a neta. He covered 40 to 50 kms from 9:30 am to 6 pm. Whenever he addressed the crowd, it was only in Hindi. 

From Hebbal to Gandhi Bazaar and from Sadashivnagar to Wilson Garden, Kejriwal criss-crossed the City to campaign for his party’s candidates. Making fewer pit stops than scheduled, a fatigued 

Kejriwal recycled his speeches  across the three LS constituenc­ies of Bangalore North, South and Central. 

“The BJP and Congress have formed governments in Karnataka and looted the State. It is time you removed them from power. This party is the people’s party,” he said. 

Kejriwal more or less accomplished his agenda of gaining visibility in Bangalore, at least for a day.. The party had two fund-raising events which raised Rs 60-70 lakhs.