Shadowing Arvind Kejriwal on his campaign as he connects with aam admi

NEW DELHI: Kamal Rai (46) smiles his betel-stained smile as he holds up his phone to capture the man on stage lampooning BJP. His subject, dressed in a navy blue sweater worn over a faded shirt and grey pants and brown tie-up shoes, is addressing a political meeting in Sangam Vihar, the largest unauthorised colony in Delhi, at 8.30 pm on a Friday.

Rai’s phone is just one of the many smartphones staring at Arvind Kejriwal from the audience below. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief, meanwhile, taunts the saffron party’s decision to pick Kiran Bedi as its CM candidate. He claims this is an acknowledgement that BJP is going to lose badly in Delhi and wants the former cop as a scapegoat. That, interestingly, is the only reference to his main political opponent in his address.

"I will not attack her personally," says Kejriwal as he settles down in the front seat of his car — a silver Toyota Innova donated by a supporter — after the last Jan Sabha of the day. He removes his muffler while his close aide and driver Rohit cranks up the heat a few notches. "I have great respect for her and I’ll keep respecting her," he adds as the driver carefully manoeuvers around enthusiastic supporters, most of whom have their hands and faces glued to the car windows. It’s been over a week since BJP chief Amit Shah announced the former IPS officer’s induction into the party.

During the streetfighting years of the Anna Hazare movement Kejriwal and Bedi were inseparable. Contrary to popular perception, he claims, their relationship was good even after he broke away from the Anna movement to form his own party. "In fact on August 3, when the party announcement was made, I saw her trying to persuade volunteers who were unhappy with the new development," he said.

The two, however, haven’t spoken a word to each other in over two years after AAP’s agitation against coal block allocations outside the Nitin Gadkari’s residence. Bedi, back then, did not want Kejriwal and his camp to target BJP for the Coalgate scam. He says Bedi has not answered any of his calls or SMSes ever since. "Her political leaning was outrightly clear at that point."

It’s 9.15 pm. Kejriwal looks exhausted and coughs more frequently now, a stark contrast to when he left his constituency office in Vallabhbhai Patel House in the heart of the city at 4.15 pm. He has addressed two public meetings and met a party supporter during this time. He asks for a glass of water. His aide Bibhav Kumar quickly pulls out a flask and pours lukewarm water in a steel glass. Owing to his poor health, Kejriwal almost never leaves without the flask (for his sore throat) and some home-cooked food (to keep a check on his sugar levels).

According to a conservative estimate, Kejriwal has addressed over 50 public meetings and 2.5 lakh people since December.

There’s little respite from work even when he is on the move. The AAP leader is constantly occupied with his smart phone, planning his next day’s schedule, checking Twitter, returning missed calls and replying to text messages.

Kumar, meanwhile, updates him about latest opinion polls, interview requests and what Bedi has been up to. But the going is not always smooth. Recently, there was the uproar over his bribery remarks and party patriarch Shanti Bhushan praised Bedi.

Despite everything, he is confident of a thumping majority. "They (people of Delhi) are with us," he says just before he steps out of his car in Chhattarpur for a meeting, only to be swallowed by a huge crowd supporters.

Half an hour later he is back in the car with an unknown supporter as if almost to make a point to us. The supporter hands him a piece of paper, offers a few words of praise and leaves. Kejriwal passes it on to Kumar who starts smiling on opening the folded piece of paper. It’s a cheque worth Rs 1 lakh.