In Lambi, Kejri bats for change

LAMBI: “Jhadu wala button daba deyo Punjabiyo, Badala nu sabak sikha deyo Punjabiyo…” AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal’s cavalcade plays this track loudly from atop an Innova vehicle as he arrives for the day’s first public meeting at Sarawan Bodla village in Lambi Assembly constituency.

AAP nominee Jarnail Singh and party convener Arvind Kejriwal at a rally in Lambi on Friday. Tribune photo

Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Lambi, January 20

“Jhadu wala button daba deyo Punjabiyo, Badala nu sabak sikha deyo Punjabiyo…” AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal’s cavalcade plays this track loudly from atop an Innova vehicle as he arrives for the day’s first public meeting at Sarawan Bodla village in Lambi Assembly constituency.

Wearing off-white wrinkled trousers, a black jacket over a blue sweater and his trademark sandals with socks, Kejriwal alights from the vehicle and rushes towards the stage, where the party leadership has been awaiting him for over two hours. But he doesn’t forget to remove his sandals first.

AAP nominee Jarnail Singh first addresses the gathering. Then he passes on the mike to Kejriwal and leaves for the next venue.

Kejriwal begins his speech with “Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal”. He says, “This time, the elections will change the fate of Punjab.” Projecting himself as an aam aadmi, he says the Congress and the SAD have crores to splurge, whereas “we don’t even have money to contest the elections.”

He speaks in chaste Hindi, but tries to speak words in Punjabi such as pind (village). Then he says, “We are very small people. This is the blessings of Waheguru that wherever we go, the entire village starts supporting us. God is definitely doing something. Now, you have to support and bring change in Punjab for the welfare of the state and your kids.”

Kejriwal then targets the Badals and Capt Amarinder Singh: “They have made Punjab a private limited company. Badal has called Amarinder to contest from here because he knew that he was losing to our Jarnail. Amarinder has filed his nomination only to divide the votes.”

When he claims that Sukhbir Badal will not even be able to save his security deposit from Jalalabad against Bhagwant Mann, the crowd chants, “Bole So Nihal…”

During his five-back-to-back public meetings, he asks the public to take a pledge that each person will ask 100 others to vote and support AAP. Despite getting a notice from the EC over his call to take ‘bribe’ from other parties but vote for AAP, he remains defiant.