Kejriwal refuses to board vehicle sent by state govt

LUCKNOW: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday refused to board the official vehicle sent by the UP government as part of the protocol accorded to a visiting CM after he arrived in Lucknow en route to Sultanpur. It was his first visit to the state capital after becoming the Delhi CM.

Kejriwal landed at the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport here on Monday evening, from where he left for Sultanpur district, about 135 km from the state capital, to attend the mundan ceremony of the nephew of AAP general secretary Sanjay Singh.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, senior party leaders Kumar Vishwas and Ashutosh, party MPs from Punjab Bhagwant Mann, Sadhu Singh and 22 AAP MLAs accompanied him.

Kejriwal was accorded a warm welcome at the airport where a large number of party workers were present. After emerging from the airport terminal, Kejriwal got into the car of a party worker instead of boarding a vehicle sent by the Uttar Pradesh government. The fleet of around 200 cars left for Sultanpur thereafter.

At around 7pm, Kejriwal’s motorcade reached Sultanpur where he was given a guard of honour at a government guesthouse. After an hour, Kejriwal reached the Ganga Garden in Amhat area, the venue of the function where AAP workers greeted him with slogans of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’.

As the Delhi CM went on the stage set up for him, there was commotion at the venue. People jostled with each other to get closer to Kejriwal.

A large number of AAP leaders from Punjab had also come to Sultanpur to seek ticket for the 2017 assembly poll there. Kejriwal was surrounded by party workers most of the time.

The Delhi chief minister, however, did not interact with the media.