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AAP’s Vishwas gets subdued response at Rahul’s Amethi
Shahira Naim
Tribune News service

Amethi, January 12
It was a few brooms and bombast in the town on Sunday as the day wore on. The slush-filled Ramleela Maidan, known for political rallies and Gandhi family names, wasn’t ready for this common man from Delhi: Kumar Vishwas, the Aam Aadmi Party leader, whom Amethi’s common man watched tepidly with only a hint of curiosity.

Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas waves the Tricolour during a rally in Amethi on Sunday. PTI

Yet Vishwas and hundreds of his men (reportedly called in mostly from outside Amethi) arrived, almost hour-and-a-half behind schedule at 1.30pm, braving an egg attack and past stone-pelting and black ink throwing episodes.

Vishwas and his ‘common man’ have let their ideological scorn known for the Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi. So, here he was, so un-poetic and so unromantic for the Amethi-ites (remember he is a Hindi poet of some fame): “The ‘Rajkumar’ (Rahul) has indulged in symbolism by having meals with the Dalits in their houses and has not raised even a single question related to the people of Amethi in Parliament in the past 10 years. Vote an aam aadmi instead of a prince,” he said at his Jan Vishwas rally.

Vishwas, knowing fully well his rookie party status, was determined. Rahul, after all, had to postpone his January 10 rally following continuous rain.

Vishwas’ challenge is seen as one serious attempt to end the Gandhi family dominance since 1998 when Sanjay Singh contesting as a BJP candidate defeated Capt Satish Sharma, a close family friend of the Gandhis. Sanjay Singh is now back with the Congress.

Shown black flags  Along the route from  Lucknow to Amethi, his cavalcade was greeted with black flags  BJP workers burnt heaps of jhaddos, symbol of the Aam Aadmi Party  Amethi lukewarm The rally received a  subdued response  Attendance at the Ramlila Maidan was thin, comprising largely Aam Aadmi Party cap-clad outsiders

“Badlegi Amethi, Badlega Desh” (Amethi would usher in a change for the nation) declared the banner wrapped around the podium from where Vishwas delivered his speech interspersed with couplets indicating his non-status as against the ‘maharani’ (Sonia Gandhi) and ‘rajkumar’ (Rahul).

He said no black flags, hurling of eggs, black ink or angry slogans would scare him away from Amethi. “It is now a battle for retaining the honour of aam aadmi,” he said.

As he came to end his blitz, many in Amethi wondered who all attended the rally. Girish Tripathi, a local lawyer, said he did not recognize most of the people. “Almost the entire crowd is outsider.”

Most in Amethi feel the Gandhi family had given the district an identity. “Whether we have the best of roads or not, when I go to Delhi, everyone knows where Amethi is”, said a local resident.