Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday night, 12 September, had dinner with an auto-rickshaw driver at the latter's Ahmedabad home, but not before he got into a heated argument with the security personnel over the breach of protocol.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener, who is on a two-day visit to Gujarat ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in the state, was addressing a gathering of auto-rickshaw drivers in Ahmedabad on Monday.
After his address, auto-rickshaw driver Vikram Dantani, a resident of the city, requested Kejriwal to have dinner at his house. The Delhi CM agreed and urged Dantani to pick him up from his five-star hotel in his auto rickshaw.
However, when Kejriwal, accompanied by Gujarat AAP chief Gopal Italia and the party’s national Joint General Secretary Isudan Gadhvi, sat in the auto-rickshaw, they were intercepted by the security personnel, leading to a squabble.
In a video shared by AAP national spokesperson Raghav Chadha, Kejriwal can be seen telling the security personnel that he does not need security and that he cannot be stopped from travelling in the auto-rickshaw.
"The reason why the people of Gujarat are upset with the state government is because the ministers do not step out and speak to the public. I am a public servant. You cannot stop me from addressing the public."Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Chief Minister
After the argument over security protocols, a police official sat beside the auto-rickshaw driver, while two police cars escorted the three-wheeler.
Later, Kejriwal and the other state AAP leaders had dinner at Dantani’s house.
'What an Actor!': BJP, Congress Slam Kejriwal
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party took a potshot at Kejriwal over the incident, with Gujarat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghvi retorting, “What an actor!”
Meanwhile, Congress leader and Punjab MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira 'dared' Kejriwal to shed his Z-plus security and called him a 'master of theatrics'.
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