Autowallahs Ring Alarm Bells for AAP in Delhi Polls
Delhi BJP campaign with auto drivers Image credit X.com
AAP’s Key Support Base Turns Loud Critics of Kejriwal
By Amit Kumar
New Delhi, February 5: Exit Polls have predicted exit of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) from power in Delhi. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is poised to take a shot at power in the national capital.
The autowallahs, who had been the vocal support base of the AAP, have been ringing the alarm bells for the Arvind Kejriwal-led outfit. In 2013, the autowallahs had brought the AAP at the forefront of Delhi politics by peddling the accusations of Kejriwal against late Sheila Dikshit.
The autowallahs sanguinely announced “Sheila Dikshit Chor hai” in 2013. They stayed most loyal to the AAP in the 2015 and the 2020 Assembly elections.
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“The AAP didn’t fulfil any of the promises made to us. The AAP should now go out of power,” said an argumentative auto-driver a day before the polling.
He argued that 12 years were long enough for the AAP to fulfil the promises made to the autowallahs. Incidentally, Kejriwal’s first outreach in the Assembly elections last month had been with a meeting with the auto-drivers.
“The least that the Delhi government could have done for us was to raise the minimum fare from ₹30 to ₹50,” added the auto-driver.
The BJP sought to make an inroad with the autowallahs in the national capital. The saffron outfit promised a package deal for the auto-drivers, including insurance.
The BJP ‘Sankalpa Patra’ promised a welfare board for auto-taxi drivers. The saffron outfit also promised ₹10 lakh life insurance, ₹5 lakh accident insurance, subsidy for vehicle insurance, and scholarships for their children.
“We have seen the AAP government for 12 years. There is nothing wrong to seen an alternative government in Delhi,” said another auto-driver.
Various reports estimate a one lakh population of auto drivers in the national capital. They are also known to be most vocal in expressing their political opinions.
Many of the auto-drivers who this author spoke during the election campaign stressed that the city government should work out highly subsidized loans for them. Besides, they also complained loudly against the transport department of the city government.
Delhi also has witnessed a massive surge in the number of e-rickshaw drivers who also have been courted by the political parties during the campaign. The BJP’s promise to offer a social security net for drivers of autorickshaws, app-based cabs, and e-rickshaws also has been received positively by the significant electoral constituency.
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