Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been on the radar of trollers, and his actions/words have more potential for jokes than an entire episode of Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah. Kejriwal is in the news for a rather miserable reason. It is his iconic blue Wagon-R. The car got stolen near Secretariat yesterday afternoon (October 12).
The Wagon R, gifted by an Indian living abroad, was dubbed the ‘AAP Mobile’ and got plenty of mileage in the news when the Chief Minister used it to camp and sleep in during a controversial protest against the Delhi Police in 2014.
The blue car was used by the Aam Aadmi Party or AAP to demonstrate its commitment to fighting VIP culture and of standing with the little guy. It was used by Mr. Kejriwal during his campaign for the first election he contested; it remained his vehicle of choice when he was first made Chief Minister.
Following reports of the car going missing, the Aam Aadmi Party took a veiled dig at the Centre saying that Delhi lieutenant governor Anil Baijal, who reports to the central government, ‘should focus more on law and order’ in the national capital than on ‘holding up files’.
Finally, Police in Ghaziabad on Saturday morning found a blue hatchback they believe is the car of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal that was stolen at the secretariat on Thursday. A twist in this incident is a sword was found in the stolen car.
“The car we recovered from Mohan Nagar early Saturday morning bears registration number ‘DL9CG-9769.’ It seems to be the same car. However, we are verifying the details of the car with Delhi police. The car has been brought to Sahibabad police station,” said Akash Tomar, superintendent of police (city).
The theft of the chief minister’s car brought into focus a persistent problem in the national capital where an average of 112 vehicles are stolen every day. Ghaziabad police said the car was found abandoned near a hospital at Mohan Nagar.
“There is no damage to the car and the doors were found locked. The Delhi police officials have also arrived and the car will be handed over to them for further investigation. The car was spotted around 8.15am at the spot and our officials brought it to the police station,” said an official from Sahibabad police station.
Kejriwal’s blue WagonR had become synonymous with his ‘common man’ image. These days, it was being used by a functionary of the AAP’s media cell.