Kejri set for making debut as CM at trade fair venue

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is all set to make his debut in the Delhi pavilion of the India International Trade Fair later this month when his team would showcase its e-governance model at the mega event that draws nearly 15 lakh visitors.

It will be after a gap of two years that a Chief Minister’s photo and message will welcome visitors at the Delhi pavilion of the fair as in 2013, the election code of conduct prevented this from happening and in 2014, the city was under the President’s Rule.

The two-week fair – between November 14 and 27 – will offer the Kejriwal government’s 17 departments a platform to offer an insight into the new brand of governance sought to be introduced by the AAP.

The global profile of the visitors at the prestigious event may also help the AAP communicate its ideology and methodology of policy implementation through transparent governance – something which sceptics doubted before it stormed to power in the capital.

“The pavilion’s outer appearance will reflect the modern outlook of the city along with the various requirements of Delhi and the common man,” said a senior official of the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation – the department in charge of the pavilion.

An official in the team of director of Delhi pavilion said: “All the Kejriwal government departments have started sending content for display.”

Swaraj Fund, student education loans, district-level sports activities and participative governance are likely to get prominent spaces along with the Transport Department’s big push for promoting public transport through car-free days and Kejriwal’s cycle ride to promote the event.

The departments of Environment and Tourism will display the ecological and cultural richness of the capital in the two-storey pavilion which would be formally inaugurated by Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung on a special “Delhi Day” celebrated during the mega event.

“Pictures of the Chief Minister are going to get a prominent space near the entrance of the pavilion,” said a functionary in the office of DSIIDC MD Sanjeev Ahuja.

The efforts for promoting tourism, and cleaning Yamuna would also be showcased along with the wares produced by Tihar inmates.

Sources said Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s unofficial brief for the pavilion planners is to make visitors feel the difference that a new-elected government has come to the helm after 15 years of Congress rule.

An official of the DSIIDS, which also manages the Delhi Emporium in Connaught Place, said the overall theme of the Delhi Pavilion will be in sync with the Make-in-India concept announced by the India Trade Promotion Organisation, the organiser of the popular annual fair.

The last time a chief minister’s picture was used in the Delhi pavilion at the IITF was in 2012.

Kejriwal will now take the place of former chief minister Sheila Dikshit of Congress whose policies featured during the fair for almost a decade and a half.

The ruling AAP defeated the Congress in 2013 to end its 15-year-old rule in the capital. In 2014, the Kejriwal-led AAP stormed back to power after the new party’s government managed only a 49-day stint in its first inning in 2013.