Mumbaikars bore the brunt of Aam Admi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal’s first day of lok Sabha poll campaign in the metropolis on Wednesday, as he travelled by road and a local train, resulting in traffic jams in a few places in suburban Andheri and utter chaos at Churchgate railway terminus in south Mumbai.
Kejriwal, who was accorded a traditional Maharashtrian welcome by his party workers on his arrival in the city airport from New Delhi at 10.40 am, hailed an autorickshaw and headed to Andheri suburban railway station along with two of his party functionaries.
Hundreds of AAP activists had turned at the Terminal-two of the city airport to welcome Kejriwal. A contingent of party activists boarded more than a dozen autorishaws hired in advance by the AAP and followed the autorikshaw carrying Kejriwal. Chasing the Kejriwal’s convoy of autorickshaws were police personnel and media persons seeking to capture the AAP leader’s “road show” in Mumbai.
As the “chase” began, the driver of Kejriwal’s authorickshaw – in his enthusiasm to reach swiftly to the the Andheri railway station which is at five km distance from the city airport – broke a traffic signal en route. The dozen-odd autorickshaws – all carrying Kejriwal’s men—also broke the signal.
The autorickshaws ferried more than three passengers and the motorbike riders, accompanying Kejriwal’s autorickshaw, were not wearing mandatory helmets – a violation that the traffic police took serious cognizance of and promptly slapped fines of Rs 500 on three autorickshaw drivers for offences committed under the Motor Vehicles Act.
There were minor traffic jams en route. As Kejriwal’s convoy reached Andheri station, the AAP activists — in their hurry to join their leader on board a Churchgate-bound suburban train — forced the autorickshaw drivers to stop their vehicles around the railway station in a haphazard manner. As a result, there was a traffic jam outside the Andheri railway station for 10 to 15 minutes.
On his part, Kejriwal steadfastly avoided interacting with the electronic media persons accompanying him,even as they held out their mikes for bytes.