With Gujarat Assembly elections just months away, the Aam Aadmi Party seemed to have upped their PR stunts to strike an emotional chord with the citizens of a state it is desperately seeking to make inroads in, especially with the absence of a formidable opponent. To this end, they have relied on replicating the Punjab model, where Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal had accepted a dinner invitation made by an auto-rickshaw driver who later turned out to be a committed AAP worker.
A similar kind of PR stunt took place at a recent AAP meeting in Gujarat, where an auto-rickshaw driver invited Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal over for dinner. Kejriwal could not hide his enthusiasm at the invitation and agreed to have dinner at the said auto rickshaw driver’s house. The official Twitter handle of AAP shared the video of the interaction on the microblogging website, trying to create an impression that AAP is gaining popularity among the masses in Gujarat.
Delhi CM @ArvindKejriwal accepts a Dinner Invitation from an Autorickshaw Driver of Gujarat ❤️#TownhallWithKejriwal pic.twitter.com/0lf5kS5rkn
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) September 12, 2022
In the video, Kejriwal gloats over how auto rickshaw drivers in Punjab loved him, and now auto rickshaw drivers in Gujarat are also showering their love on him. He then goes on to ask at what time the auto-rickshaw driver will come to fetch him from his hotel and if his two trusted aides can accompany him to the auto driver’s house for dinner. The auto driver accepts Kejriwal’s request and agrees to collect him and his trusted aides from their hotel at 8 pm.
While the Aam Aadmi Party and Arvind Kejriwal would have us believe that the entire interaction was genuine and unscripted, the eerie similarity it bears with what had transpired at an AAP conference in Punjab, where an auto-rickshaw driver had invited the AAP supremo over to his place for dinner.
On 22 November 2021, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had dinner at an auto driver’s house in Ludhiana. As per his story, the auto driver had invited him for dinner, and Bhagwant Mann and Harpal Singh Cheema accompanied the Delhi CM. The alleged feel-good story being run by AAP’s leadership has a twist, though. According to Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar, the auto driver, identified as Dilip Kumar Tiwari, has been associated with Aam Aadmi Party for a long time.
However, as per a Bhaskar report, Mahendra Kumar Tiwari, elder brother of the auto driver, was a long time member of AAP and has been attending party’s programs regularly. Dilip also attended these programs with his elder brother.
A carefully made video of the entire incident, with emotional background music and special effects, was shared by AAP’s social media handles, showing how the Delhi CM accepted the impromptu invite by a ‘common man’ auto driver for dinner.
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
After having the meal at Dilip’s house, Kejriwal praised the food and said it was the same as he likes, without chillies. The reports suggest after getting photographs clicked with the family members, Kejriwal and his team left in the Innova Crysta vehicle donning Delhi number that was, interestingly, already parked outside Dilip’s house before Kejriwal arrived.
With registering a stunning success in Punjab, Kejriwal and company seemed inclined to replicate every propaganda and PR tactic in Gujarat that it had employed in the north Indian state, including organising ‘impromptu’ dinner invites with seemingly ordinary folks but possibly linked to the party in some capacity.
