Delhi polls: Relaxed Arvind Kejriwal watches movie, tells partymen to 'chill'

NEW DELHI: After weeks of gruelling electioneering, AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal today spent a relaxed day watching a movie and sharing quality time with close family members even as a media jamboree waited outside his Kaushambi residence.

For once, the man tipped to be the next Chief Minister with exit polls giving his party clear majority, put his duties as a husband and a father first as he spent most of the day in the company of his wife, son and parents. His daughter is a student of IIT Delhi.

An ardent follower of 'Vipassana', Kejriwal started his day by performing a session of yoga and meditation.

Later he read newspapers and watched television, while keeping a tab on the social media. In the afternoon, Kejriwal, a self-confessed movie buff, watched recently released Akshay Kumar starrer action thriller, Baby, at a multiplex in Kausambi.

Kejriwal was accompanied to the 4 PM show by his confidants Manish Sisodia and Kumar Vishwas. 31 AAP volunteers were also there.

Clearly in a relaxed mood ahead of Tuesday results, Kejriwal also had a special message for the party's army of volunteers as he lauded their contribution and asked them to "chill".

"Volunteers. U did an amazing job. Relax for 2 days. Spend wid ur family. Sleep. Watch movies. Meditate. Chill. God bless u," he tweeted.

In a different corner of Delhi, BJP's chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi was on complete "voice rest" after she performed the morning rituals of worshipping the 'sun god'.

"Good morning Delhi. Every day is a new day... Only thing constant and predictable in the Sun Rise...," Bedi tweeted.

As the day progressed, however, both the chief ministerial candidates went into a huddle with the leaders of their respective parties.

Many senior AAP leaders went over to Kejriwal's residence for a "preparatory" meeting around 2.30 PM. "It was a preparatory meeting. The party took stock of the situation and weighed all the possibilities that may emerge after the verdict on February 10," a senior leader said.

On the other hand, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman visited Bedi at her residence at Uday Park. In the evening, she attended a review meeting of the party which discussed the political situation.

Both the leaders slogged day in and day out for the last few weeks as part of the intense electioneering in one of the most fiercely fought Assembly elections in decades.

Before wrapping up his campaigning following a low-key roadshow in his New Delhi constituency, the AAP supremo addressed as many as 110 rallies spread over 70 constituencies in the city.

Kejriwal averaged four rallies a day, with the first one starting around 2 PM in the afternoon everyday while the last rally generally stretching till at least 9 PM.

Whereas after being named as BJP's chief ministerial candidate, Bedi led a series of roadshows all over the city. But at the fag end of the campaign, she was seen nursing a "sore throat", which led the AAP to allege that BJP had "gagged" her.

Kejriwal has quietly removed himself from the electoral frenzy in the past as well.

For example after the Lok Sabha polls, when he was pitted against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi, he went to a meditation centre at Sohna.

Even after the 2013 Delhi Assembly polls, he left for a 'vipassana' retreat and by the time he returned, AAP had emerged as the single largest party. AAP has much at stake in the keenly-awaited verdict of the polls, as it could very well turn out to be a "turning point" in Indian politics, according to the party.

According to political analysts, an AAP victory in Delhi as projected by pre-poll surveys will not only halt BJP's juggernaut but also bolster the opposition to take on the Modi government.

All the exit polls have given AAP a decisive edge over BJP with one of them giving it as high as 53 seats in the 70-member House. A record 67.14 per cent turnout was recorded yesterday during the polls where a total of 673 candidates were in the fray for the 70-member Delhi Assembly.