“Kejriwal has always been there for us, now it’s our time to stand with him,” said Karol Bagh resident Narendra Kumar Atal as the Aam Aadmi Party went door to door in the constituency seeking support for Sunday’s mega rally being organised in protest against the arrest of the Chief Minister in the excise policy case. “Why arrest (him) now, right before the election? Where were the PM, ED and CBI in the last five years?. The timing itself makes the whole case suspicious,” added Atal. Heading the campaign was the party’s Delhi convenor Gopal Rai. “Starting today, we are inviting everyone in Delhi and appealing to them to gather at Ramlila Maidan on March 31, if they believe in Arvind Kejriwal’s work. if they believe the ED’s action was based on revenge,” he said, The AAP Minister, along with area MLA Vishesh Ravi, distributed invitation pamphlets in gali no. 19 of Karol Bagh’s Regar Pura. Other party members accompanying the two raised slogans such as “Kejriwal ji ko riha karo” and “Modi teri tanashahi nahi chalegi-nahi chalegi”. A group of shopkeepers, who wished to remain anonymous fearing arrest, said: “We will definitely be there (at Ramlila Maidan). The arrest is illegal. They didn’t find anything from the CM’s residence. Furthermore, they are harassing his family and other parties. They want to win all 7 seats of Delhi without any competition.” Others had a different opinion on the issues. Naresh Kumar Dhandhariya, a BJP supporter, who owns a collar-making shop in Karol Bagh, said the Delhi CM should have cooperated with the ED. However, he credited the CM for the subsidies offered by the government. “I’m a BJP supporter, but credit where it’s due. Things have improved a lot under the Kejriwal government, government schools and hospitals in Delhi have come on par with private institutions. Free schemes for electricity and water are boon for the city’s underprivileged.” Atal added, “If he weren’t working for the people of Delhi, no way he could have been the CM for the last 10 years.” Praising the Karol Bagh MLA, the two men added, “If we ever face any problem, we call him directly, and even at midnight, the man himself comes to help us. Things were not like this before. It’s only possible with AAP, their party people are always there for aam aadmi (common man).”
