One of the most iconic things about Karnavati, or as some people call it Amdavad/Ahmedabad, are the autorickshaw-walas. They’re so iconic that one of the quite popular Gujarati songs is an ode to the rickshawwala.
The above song is sung by Kishore Kumar and is one of the favourites of mine.
Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop.#KejriwalRukegaNahi pic.twitter.com/GEUAXcECLZ
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) September 12, 2022
Aam Aadmi Party today put up a cartoon of a rickshawwala with his leg sticking out trying to show Kejriwal is unstoppable. I am not sure about other cities, but the leg sticking out gesture by rickshawwalas has been a quintessential Amdavadi thing. It is their way of showing side signal.
The autorickshaw in the cartoon has ‘I :heart: Kejriwal’ written on it along with a ‘danger’ symbol on the green paint part it. It also has 3 heart emojis. Interestingly, the autorickshaw number here is also 999, like in the above song where Asrani is shown singing. Similar image was shared by another AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj.
Kejriwal Rukega Nahi pic.twitter.com/wWTSJX6Ua7
— Saurabh Bharadwaj (@Saurabh_MLAgk) September 12, 2022
While base image is the same, there is a typo in ‘Kejariwal’ here and one random Gujarati sentence on the rickshaw which reads ‘side ma hend alya‘ (come here, this side) instead of ‘side aap alya‘ (give side). This is what happens when you try to be cool but get references wrong.
He also added a caption ‘Kejriwal rukega nahi‘ (Kejriwal won’t stop). Obviously, this was a free hit for those who do not leave a chance to mock the Delhi CM.
Fixed it. 🙏🏻😄https://t.co/eeXJz7MAxV pic.twitter.com/vDI3oUI0fC
— URBAN MEMES BODY (@UrbanMemesBody) September 12, 2022
Some were not so subtle about the innuendos.
😍🥰 https://t.co/H7WDzjIxcM pic.twitter.com/HPPxtUWlPO
— मोगू सेठ (@9_t_8) September 13, 2022
So as third person looking in, if Arvind Kejriwal is playing up the ‘autorickshawwala is common man’ part, it would be quite a smart thing.
Except, that is not it.
Kejriwal is not trying to tap into average Amdavadi’s emotions. He is playing his old trick of ‘autowalas as votebank’ politics.
Arvind Kejriwal, in what he wanted everyone to believe was an ‘impromptu’ decision, went for a meal at an autorickshaw driver’s home in Ahmedabad. He went there after he invited him over for a meal during a meet-and-greet session he had with ‘common man of Ahmedabad’ along with Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann.
Delhi CM @ArvindKejriwal accepts a Dinner Invitation from an Autorickshaw Driver of Gujarat ❤️#TownhallWithKejriwal pic.twitter.com/0lf5kS5rkn
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) September 12, 2022
Except, in November 2021, similar such ‘impromptu’ dinner invitation was extended by yet another autorickshaw driver in Punjab when he was on a campaign trail for Punjab elections.
Moment of the Day ❤️
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) November 22, 2021
When CM @ArvindKejriwal accepted an Auto-rickshaw driver’s dinner invitation.
Furthermore, Kejriwal ji went ahead & invited the Punjab Auto Driver’s family for dinner at CM house in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/K57JwTaOYo
Same modus operandi. While it is not yet out if the Ahmedabad rickshawwala was an AAP worker, the Punjab one turned out to be one. So clearly, it was a staged thing to make it appear like Kejriwal is a ‘common man’. One of the AAP insiders told me how this has been their long time strategy of ‘planting’ people who would say such things or ask ‘tough questions’ – the answers of which are already decided. An elaborate rehearsal is also carried out before such events to make sure things go as per planned.
Which is fine, as it is all politics and Kejriwal wants to portray a certain brand image for himself. But then why keep the pretence of being a ‘common man’.
Because turns out in Delhi, those are his ‘vote bank’. Ahead of 2013 Delhi state assembly elections, when AAP formed government in Delhi for first time with support of Congress (only to have Kejriwal resign and go contest general elections against Modi from Varanasi), AAP had roped in thousands of autorickshaw drivers and put up party advertisement on them. He had made huge promises to autorickshaw drivers in Delhi. Which is why they supported him even when he broke his own government in 49 days.
As per this report, around 90% of autorickshaw driver in Delhi had supported him back in 2013. Only to be disillusioned a year later after the promises were broken. In February 2014, autorickshaw union in Delhi had already withdrawn support to Kejriwal for not taking any steps to better their lives.
And while Kejriwal did come to power again in Delhi after 2014 general elections disaster, for 2020 elections he again reached out to his core base, the faithful autorickshaw drivers. See, many of the autorickshaw drivers come from economically weak section and live in shanties/jhuggis. The ‘free bijli, free water’ lollypop is very attractive move in a country where even after 75 years, people are deprived of basic amenities. In June 2019, days after 2019 general elections and just months ahead of state assembly elections, Kejriwal had again lured the autorickshaw drivers by arranging 18.75% hike in fares.
Political posters on autorickshaws are a great, not so expensive, tool for campaigning. You are bound to see an autorickshaw when you step out of the house. So obviously it makes for great marketing material (as if Kejriwal was not spending crores on PR anyway). Which is why these planned ‘candid’ PR stunts where he goes for meals at the homes of autorickshaw drivers.
Not because he genuinely cares but because it makes for great advertising.
You know it, I know it, mainstream media knows it and even Kejriwal knows it. But he still thinks an average voter will fall for his tricks.
