When fledgling Aam Aadmi party was alloted 'broom' as its poll symbol just 100 days back, there may have been ominous signs for Congress which ruled Delhi for 15 straight years if one went by some historic broom lore.
And Arvind Kejriwal's AAP, which had its roots in the civil society's historic anti-corruption movement spearheaded by Gandhian Anna Hazare that brought government on its knees in mid-2011, made an old tale come true for the one-year-old party.
According to an old American folklore, if you place a broom on the floor, it will indicate to your guests that they have stayed long enough.
Besides the symbolic message it conveys, the broom may perhaps being the engineer-turned-IRS officer's way of telling three-time Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit that she has been staying in office for long and that it was time to leave.
AAP, the underdog, had pledged during the launch of the party a year back that it was here to stay as a political party and change the way politics is done in the next 20 years.
Mainstream parties often poked fun at broom-wielding AAP leaders and workers but they extracted a sweet revengue.
A contemptuous message was also posted about the anti-corruption activism in the country by Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra who wrote on his Facebook page: "Mango people in banana republic.
The AAP, which was built on idealism and brought together disparate groups on a platform to fight corruption, had submitted 'broom', 'candle' and 'tap' as its three most preferred symbols in the order of priority. Price rise was also high on AAP's agenda.
The symbol of 'broom' also went along with the party's slogans of cleaning the polity of corruption amid a spate of scams that dogged the UPA government.
"With this, the party has crossed the second milestone (after its registration) on its way to cleaning up the polity of the country," the AAP said in a statement after it was alloted the reserved 'broom' symbol on August one.
"With the 'broom' which symbolises dignity of labour, the party hopes to clean the filth which has permeated our government and our legislature. The country needs a clean sweep of its corrupted main stream political parties," it said.
And Kejriwal may also take inspiration from another old folklore in which it was said that in World War II, if the submarine crew fired all their torpedoes successfully, they would tie a broom to the conning tower when arriving in port, to signify a "clean sweep".
It may not be a clean sweep but AAP has made a stunning debut to become the main opposition party besides helping end the 15-year uninterrupted rule of Congress.
