Arvind Kejriwal, the new Chief Minister of New Delhi, has announced he will be hitching a ride on the Delhi metro rail for his swearing-in ceremony slated for Saturday afternoon.
Kejriwal, a former tax official, in a surprising turn of events made a phenomenal debut for his party, the Aam Adami Party(AAP), by securing the second most number of votes.
The election had thrown a hung assembly, as the ruling party Congress got only a dismal eight votes. While the AAP had 28 seats in the 70-member house, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) secured 31 seats but still fell short of the magical number of 36 to form the government.
Hence taking the 'outside support' of Congress, the AAP decided to form a government. Activist-turned-politician Kejriwal will be Delhi's seventh Chief Minister, and his swearing ceremony is expected to be a mass event that will be held at the historic Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on December 28.
"Manish Sisodia, Rakhi, Saurabh, Satyendra, Girish, Somnath Bharti and I will take the Metro from the Kaushambi metro station at 10.30 AM and proceed for the swearing in ceremony at the Ramlila Maidan. We will be grateful if you can join us," Kejriwal posted on his facebook page.
The new Chief Minister has also refused the Z-category security. Besides, he has declined to take the pilot car, escort vehicle, personal security officers and even the government bunglow.
For the Delhi metro, which sees a passenger flow of 25 lakh commuters, the new 'common man'-cum-Chief Minister taking the rail will add to the pressure. But his decision will benefit the exchequer. As per reports, the union ministery deploys over 7,000 police personnel on VIP security in the national capital, which costs the treasury nearly Rs 300 crore.
Through the announcement, the 45-year-old former Indian Revenue Service (IRS) had made it clear that he will continue to fight against Delhi's VIP culture and the indiscriminate misuse of the official 'red light' vehicle.
