Aam aadmi celebrates return of Mufflerman

Arvind Kejriwal supporters now hope he lives up to their expectations, delivers

As soon as the initial trends emergerd, celebrations started early at almost all counting centres as Aam Aadmi Party supporters broke into jigs on the party’s poll song ‘5 saal Kejriwal’.

Outside the counting centre in central Delhi’s Gole Market, it was a camaraderie of a motley group of people. But they had one thing in common — they had chosen the aam leader.

Parked metres away from the centre was an autorickshaw decorated with garlands and a placard which read “Dilliwale di Kejriwal ko fir se 5 saal Kejriwal”.

Students, elderlies, autorickshaw drivers, self-styled educationists, tattoo artists and tea-sellers assembled to celebrate the AAP victory.

As the initial trends showed a landslide victory for the AAP, supporters started arriving in scores at the centre. Adjacent to the counting booth, the outside sitting area of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) headquarters turned out to be a refuge of elderly supporters who chose to sit back and “reflect on the success”.

Students lined up in front of television cameras with cut-outs of Arvind Kejriwal vying for attention.

Qadir, 18, posed with a placard which read, “Modi ka Vijay Rath Panchar (Puncture) kiya Arvind Kejriwal” as his friend captured it on his smartphone.

Another teenager Nirmal, who is physically challenged, continued to dance to the drum beats balancing on his crutch as a party supporter videographed it. “You can check it out on YouTube later,” quipped Vishweswar Sahani.

While children in schoolbuses looked on curiously, teenagers returning home on their own joined the celebrations abandoning their blazers.

The celebrations reached its peak as word spread that Kejriwal had won by a margin of over 31,000 votes.

The centre was for counting votes of seven constituencies: New Delhi, Kasturba Nagar, Jangpura, Greater Kailash, Okhla, Malviya Nagar and RK Puram.

While BJP’s candidate Nupur Sharma from New Delhi constituency and Anil Sharma from RK Puram left without attracting media attention, AAP contestants remained composed even in victory.

Promising to deliver on its promises at the earliest, the winning candidates hinted at a departure from AAP’s dharna style of politics.

“This election result is the wake-up call for the BJP and Narendra Modi. Just giving speeches and promises will not work, you have to deliver. I humbly request Kejriwal not to copy Congress and BJP, and make Delhi a world-class city,” said Aniket Mukherjee, a resident of Paharganj.

With spirits running high, supporters outside the centre lined up in open jeeps, cars and motorcycles, flashed victory signs and thrust jhadus in the air.

By 12.30 pm, they took to streets. They travelled in large groups on the main roads, stopped at regular interval and burst crackers, which also created a traffic mess.

Many of them were travelling without helmets on two-wheelers and without seat belts on cars. All these were ignored by Delhi Police and traffic policemen. “Today is their day. Let them celebrate,” a traffic official in central Delhi’s Pusa Road told Deccan Herald.

Even as most AAP supporters littered while celebrating the party’s sweep, a few of them went about cleaning the area near the counting centre near east Delhi’s Akshardham Temple.

Laxmi Nagar residents Irfan Khan and Abhishek Mittal began the clean-up process by picking empty water bottles and pouches from the roadside.

“It is a huge mandate and responsibility. These works cannot wait. There are bigger responsibilities to shoulder in the coming days,” said Irfan as he carried a sack around with Abhishek following him close behind.

About half a dozen volunteers soon took the cue, cleaning other areas and telling street vendors there to make arrangements for dustbin next to their stalls.