Kaushambi basks in Arvind Kejriwal's glory, but it won’t last long

NEW DELHI: Delhi’s new Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is working out of home on Sunday, and it is a ‘Peepli Live’ moment at Ghaziabad’s Girnar Apartments as 15 outdoor broadcast vans, as many media teams, hundreds of supporters, fans, and those with grievances have thronged the sleepy complex, leaving Delhi and Ghaziabad cops struggling to control the surging crowds.

For all the commotion that has even forced the guards to shut the main entrance leading to the elevators to stop the crowds from reaching Kejriwal’s fourth-floor apartment, the Indian Revenue Services (IRS) officers who live in the complex are surprisingly accommodative and uncomplaining.

“We are all public servants living here and understand that Arvind is doing public service, after all. He has lived here for over 10 years and enjoys a lot of goodwill among the residents. Despite some minor inconveniences like using a side gate, we are co-operating.

It is a matter of great pride that one among us is now Delhi’s Chief Minister,” Salil Mishra, an IRS officer and a resident told ET.

The Income Tax department had bought this apartment complex from the Ghaziabad Development Authority two decades ago for IRS officers posted in Delhi. Kejriwal, who quit the IRS in 2006, stays here as his wife, Sunita, is still a serving officer. He is expected to shift to the Indraprastha Power guest house in Delhi this week, which will be at a walking distance from the Delhi Secretariat.

The experience at Girnar is a pointer to the challenge of securing Kejriwal’s safety, especially as he does not want security for himself.

An AAP volunteer in charge of keeping the crowds away from Kejriwal’s apartment told ET that the Chief Minister is finding it difficult to even board his car as crowds throng him at every appearance or during his jansabha every morning at home. “There are just two guards at this apartment complex. Hundreds of people with petitions, fans with bouquets and some with a simple desire to get a picture clicked with their CM or just even his car, have landed up here today,” the volunteer said.