It was an overwhelming crowd, singing and dancing along the way. Over 10,000 odd supporters, who successfully helped Arvind Kejriwal carry out his 7 kilometre long roadshow on Tuesday, were not just a random set of people but a well-mobilised and trained crowd that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has worked to gather over several months. They were volunteers from different wards of each constituency who were packed in buses and brought to the venue.
A ward coordinator from Gandhi Nagar revealed that nearly four to five buses from each ward were filled and brought for the roadshow. With each constituency having three to four wards each, such a massive crowd was not too difficult to gather for the party. Similarly, volunteers from neighbouring States like Haryana and Punjab were also seen at the roadshow.
A source said, “We all have a fixed set of volunteers who are kept for such events. They are trained in sloganeering and made familiar with AAP’s campaigning methods. They also participate in other campaigns like door-to-door campaigns. Thus, when the roadshow was decided upon, the ward coordinators mobilised these groups. They were all brought to the venue on Tuesday.” The party had also significantly divided these groups of volunteers in different areas. While most of the volunteers were moving with Kejriwal during the roadshow, several were at Jantar Mantar. Though Kejriwal didn’t go to Jantar Mantar on Tuesday due to the delay in the roadshow, the volunteers created quite a buzz in the area. The party also used these volunteers to give out their 14-point agenda in the form of placards during the roadshow as 14 different groups of volunteers were holding placards on issues that the party has taken up so far in its Delhi Dialogue series.