Auto drivers miffed with Kejriwal government
Upset at their expectations not being met by the Arvind Kejriwal government, Delhi’s auto drivers, who once formed a strong voter base for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), have vowed not to support the party in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections on 23 April.
Increasing auto fares on a year-on-year basis according to the rate of inflation, stopping alleged daily police harassment of auto- rickshaw drivers on the streets, increasing the number of auto permits to one lakh and building at least 300 auto stands across the national capital, were among the major promises made by the Kejriwal government to auto-rickshaw drivers. However, according to the Delhi Auto Rickshaw Sangh, the largest auto drivers’ union in Delhi which claims not to be associated with any party, the Kejriwal government has failed to achieve even a single promise.
An auto driver, who had his vehicle parked outside the Karol Bagh Metro station, told this correspondent that the Kejriwal government has cheated the auto drivers who had strongly campaigned for the party during the 2015 elections. “This government had made us dream of having a beautiful life after it came to power, but what we got was far different from the dream sold. This is the kind of person Kejriwal is. This time we will teach him a lesson,” he said. In both the Assembly elections of 2013 and 2015, the auto-rickshaw drivers had campaigned extensively for the party and had formed a strong mass support base. The drivers had also mobilised people and put up posters in their auto-rickshaws for free to ensure AAP’s victory. However, now this strong voter base is angry with the AAP for its negligent attitude towards the city’s transport sector. During an auto-rickshaw ride from Jantar Mantar in Central Delhi to Green Park in South Delhi, another auto driver complained about the Kejriwal government’s “misrule”. “This AAP government has betrayed our trust. Most of the people in our auto-rickshaw community are angry with the Kejriwal government for failing to fulfil the promises he had made to auto-rickshaw drivers. He has forgotten that he was elected on our support,” the driver said.
Rajinder Soni, general secretary of the Delhi Auto Rick- shaw Sangh, also lashed out at the Kejriwal government and said that the union would not support the AAP in the MCD elections in the capital.
“We had thought that the Kejriwal government would be different, but they are no good. He has completely ignored us in the past twoand-a-half years. We tried to meet him several times with our demands, but he refused to give us any appointment. He is acting like a king; because of such an attitude, 90% of auto drivers in the capital have turned against the AAP,” Soni said.
Most auto drivers this correspondent spoke to seemed dissatisfied with the AAP government. According to them, the AAP has ignored its core voter base. Some even said that in the upcoming MCD polls in Delhi, they would switch sides to the BJP to teach AAP a lesson.
Soni said: “The AAP had promised to build auto stands during its campaign, but it has failed to build a single auto stand in the city. They were also supposed to increase the number of auto permits in the city, but only last year, 10,000 new auto permits were announced after the intervention of the Delhi High Court, yet the process is still not complete.”
The Aam Aadmi Party has come under attack from many of its volunteers in Delhi who have alleged that tickets for the upcoming MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) elections have been distributed not on the basis of merit or “winnability” but “other considerations”.
AAP has dismissed such charges as “stories” fuelled by “upset” leaders who could not secure nomination and has claimed that a committee of the Vidhan Sabha level oversaw the selection process “in all fairness”.
“We received over 13,000 applications, out of which only 272 could get tickets. Naturally, many would be upset for not getting tickets