Arvind Kumar, the station master, who shares his first name with the newest non-neta in town, worked hard to make arrangements and welcomed Kejriwal and his army with bouquets of flowers.
Around 20 CISF officials accompanied with sniffer dogs were deployed at the station to strengthen the security of the most talked-about political leader in the country in recent times.
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Party volunteers assisted the police in managing the huge crowd gathered at the metro station and a human wave virtually engulfed Kejriwal as he arrived at the station.
Soon-to-be ministers Satyendra Jain and Rakhi Birla were among the crush, as people climbed on to the compartment, packed like sardines.
Only a few knew that the two MLAs, wearing the Aam Aadmi party (AAP) cap, would be sworn in as ministers in a few hours. But their anonymity was short-lived as someone in the crowd quickly identified them as members of the AAP.
Jain, who worked as an architect before joining AAP, was overwhelmed with the response.
“This is huge,” Jain said with a glint in his eyes. He chuckled on hearing about the people’s enthusiasm about attending the oath ceremony.
“People are flocking to the Ram Lila ground in large numbers from my village. At least three buses have come so far to capture the moment,” Jain, who belongs to a small village in Uttar Pradesh, said. The crowd swelled at every passing station.
He won from the Shakurpur Basti assembly seat by a huge margin, but the victory did not come easy. The first to object was his family. However, they rallied behind him after Jain took up the fight on behalf of a four-year-old girl who was raped. Jain was put behind bars on allegations of inciting a mob.
“They are proud of me,” Jain said, before being mobbed by reporters. Birla was absorbed in conversation with commuters. It was much easier to strike up a conversation: she is a fellow journalist.
She was still riding high on the success of their movement, resulting in the birth of a political party and victory in 28 assembly seats. “I don’t see this as an election. For me, this is a movement...a movement towards change,” she said to one of the commuters.
She tried to convince people that systems can only be changed with the latter's active participation. A passenger was quick to reply: “We have faith in you and we will together change this system.”
After 30 minutes of the journey, the ministers-to-be got down from the metro, only to be mobbed by more supporters.