Arvind Kejriwal pushes aam aadmi agenda in first rally in Mumbai

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday poked fun at BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and his wave. Rubbishing that there was any "Modi wave", he said, in his first election rally in the city, that "the only wave in country is of anger".

"People in the country are frustrated. We rode to power in Delhi not because people like us but because they are frustrated with other parties. There is corruption and inflation, but the moment the elections arrive, a riot occurs and these issues take a back seat," said Kejriwal, while talking to the media at Khilafat House in Byculla.

Kejriwal, who has been high on 'aam aadmi' agenda, held his rally strategically in areas with significant Muslim and Dalit population, which the party seems to be eying. The daylong rally traversed through Muslim areas in Do Taki, Nagpada, and Byculla, which are constituencies of AAP leader Meera Sanyal, before moving to Mankhurd and Kannamwar Nagar, where the leader campaigned for another candidate, Medha Patkar.

Several Muslims came out just to look at Kejriwal. "The party has all good qualities which is why I have come to look at him. Why else would I be standing in the sun? He will take on Congress and Modi," said Do Taki resident Shabbir Mohammed. Some Muslims, like advocate Rashid Amanullah Khan, who were supporting Kejriwal, put up water stalls on the way for people.

However, there was trouble en route for the party as well. "At Nagpada, a number of Muslims were about to demonstrate against Kejriwal, demanding an apology for AAP leader Kumar Vishwas's remarks against Imam Hussain, but they were detained," said deputy commissioner of police (zone III) Vinayak Deshmukh.

The rally witnessed chaotic situations in some places despite heavy police bandobast. It saw some undue haste on part of the media. The moment it started from Santa Cruz, a large number of media persons followed him.

Outside the airport, Kejriwal, furthering the 'aam aadmi' agenda, travelled in an autorickshaw, with drivers sporting AAP caps till Andheri. From Andheri station, he travelled second class to Churchgate.

The moment the leader reached the platform, crowds started swelling and passers-by took pictures of him. Inside the train, the situation was a little different than what Kejriwal must have imagined. Unlike during the Gandhi scion's similar stunt, wherein he had managed to talk to some commoners, there were none in Kejriwal's compartment, at least not in the talking distance.

Media, policemen and AAP supporters packed the compartment in which the leader travelled. Inside, his Mumbai colleague, Mayank Gandhi, seemed to be explaining to him the issues faced by the city, even as media persons tried to interview him. Once at Churchgate station, the leader could not get down in the first attempt. The train, which had moved, had to be halted again as people on the other side waited to get a glimpse of him.

A heavy rush of supporters and crowd broke the metal detectors as he left the place for a meeting with businessmen and industrialists that was arranged by Sanyal. "The meeting was to discuss policies and not about any fund-raising programme," said Sanyal, without disclosing anything else.