As India turns 71 next week, Outlook zeroed in on 21 individuals who have made a lasting impression on this country – for both good and bad – so far in the 21 st century. And we got 21 equally important personalities to write on the 21 individuals we chose.
In this column, senior jourmalist Ajaz Ashraf writes on Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.
It is September 2013 and the rickety WagonR begins its slow ascent up the Barapullah flyover in Delhi. In the front passenger seat is Arvind Kejriwal, who is citing the Aam Aadmi Party’s survey to scoff at those who have predicted a distant third spot for his party in the Delhi Assembly elections of December 4. “The Aam Aadmi Party will form Delhi’s next government,” Kejriwal says. The car grumbles as it negotiates the incline, as if to mock his certitude.
Just as the WagonR can’t trump an SUV, so it was assumed that AAP couldn’t beat the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. A national daily’s bureau chief predicted AAP would...
