Poster of Arvind Kejriwal behind bars leaves I.N.D.I.A. partners awkward

Not-so-perfect picture

A picture can speak a thousand words. But the AAP made such a high-pitch sound about a picture that it almost drowned the voices of I.N.D.I.A. allies at the Ramlila Maidan rally on Sunday. The party put up pictures of its leader, Arvind Kejriwal, behind bars, at every corner of the venue and even outside it. But the party went overboard by even placing an overpowering picture below the podium on the stage, leading to discomfiture among the I.N.D.I.A. partners. The party then had to take down the one below the podium before the function was about to begin.

An awkward moment
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During his short speech at the I.N.D.I.A. rally, CPI(M) secretary general Sitaram Yechury spoke about a similar historic rally at the Ramlila Maidan 47 years ago, from where socialist leader, Jayaprakash Narayan, had given the slogan, ‘Azaadi ya ghulami’. “That year, azaadi won,” he said. But his spirited speech may have made the Congress members on stage shuffle in their seats as Narayan’s revolution had been against the then Congress government under Indira Gandhi. The Gandhis were also on stage during Yechury’s speech. However, a few Congress leaders chose not to attend the rally since Sunday marked the birth anniversary of Sheila Dikshit, who was overthrown as Delhi chief minister in 2013 after what many say was a “revolution”, which had been called by Arvind Kejriwal.