Crowdsourcing: Arvind Kejriwal at his best

Sporting a red and yellow scarf often worn by Kannada activists and  following where the crowd led him on many occasions, to the dismay of the police,   Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)  leader, Arvind Kejriwal struck a chord with the people of Bengaluru as he made his way through the city on Saturday.
 Kicking off his daylong roadshow  from Hebbal where he was received by  AAP leaders and party candidates from the city, he touched Mekhri circle, Queen’s Road, Double Road, Jayanagar, South End Circle, Mysore Road, Vijayanagar, Malleshwaram before coming to a halt a the war memorial.

Big Turnout
Riding in an open jeep customised for him and his followers, he was greeted by crowds everywhere, especially of youngsters, who seemed to see him as some sort of a hero.  Several thousand  young Bengalureans waited for hours in Jayanagar, Malleshwaram, Vijaynagar and Mysore Road to see him ride past. Interestingly, most of them were techies.

Naresh Bhat, a first time voter from Jayanagar  said although AAP did not have a strong presence in the city, Mr Kejriwal had managed to attract a big crowd because of his no-nonsense approach to the problems of the country. “Today’s rally has proved that Mr. Kejriwal is a big crowd-puller. Besides AAP volunteers a large number of common people have taken part in the rally,” he noted.
 Seeing educated voters turn out in big number , AAP volunteers observed the mood of the people was changing . “I have never seen  people like these attending rallies till now. For the first time they seem have come out of their homes in support  a cause,” said a traffic policeman in Jayanagar IV block.

Tough time for cops
Making impromptu diversions along his route at several places , Mr Kejriwal, however, gave the traffic police  a hard time. Seeing the chaos, AAP volunteers stepped in to help the police control traffic. Later, taking people by surprise he  ended his rally earlier than scheduled at 6pm in Sadashivnagar. While some AAP leaders maintained he had cut short the roadshow as  he  was unwell, others said the  police had stopped the convoy owing to the code of conduct in place.