Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal’s 'vipassana' (meditation) trip to Punjab’s Hoshiarpur created buzz in the political circles, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) criticising him for surrounding self with a massive cavalcade.
Fresh off the drubbing in the Delhi assembly election at the hands of the BJP, Kejriwal faced intense criticism from all parties for taking a big cavalcade, with AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal equating it with US President Donald Trump’s security.
"Kejriwal, who criticises the whole world for VIP culture, is today roaming around with a security cover bigger than Donald Trump," she wrote in a post on X.
BJP's Manjinder Singh Sirsa, who is now a minister in the chief minister Rekha Gupta-led cabinet of Delhi, said that Kejriwal ‘moves like a maharaja’.
{{/usCountry}}BJP's Manjinder Singh Sirsa, who is now a minister in the chief minister Rekha Gupta-led cabinet of Delhi, said that Kejriwal ‘moves like a maharaja’.
{{/usCountry}}"Arvind Kejriwal, who once pretended to be a common man in a WagonR, now moves in a lavish convoy of bulletproof Land Cruisers, over 100 Punjab Police commandos, jammers and ambulances like a VIP Maharaja all for Vipassana, a retreat meant for peace. If power was his test, he has failed miserably. AAP’s truth is out, deception, hypocrisy, and VIP arrogance at its peak," he wrote on X.
Congress also wasn't far behind in slamming the AAP chief. Sandeep Dikshit, who contested the New Delhi seat against Kejriwal, accused the AAP chief of getting used to a "pompous and lavish lifestyle".
"I have been saying for 10 years that he is greedy for power. When he used to get votes on the basis of simplicity, even then, we used to say that his simplicity was just a pretence... He has become so used to the extravagance that comes with power that he has 100 vehicles in his convoy to accompany him for a meditation retreat," Dikshit was quoted by PTI as saying.
Arvind Kejriwal and wife Sunita Kejriwal on a 10-day meditation retreat in Punjab
Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his wife Sunita are in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur to attend the meditation course at the Dhamma Dhaja Vipassana Centre, which began on Wednesday. The couple will be attending the course over the next 10 days.
The criticism of Kejriwal was due to the size of his cavalcade. According to a report by India Today, the AAP chief was accompanied by the cavalcade, which included more than 100 Punjab Police personnel and bulletproof vehicles.
Kejriwal and his wife arrived at the Forest Rest House in Chohal, about 14 km from Hoshiarpur, late Tuesday night. From there, they travelled to the centre in Anandgarh, near Mehlanwali in the Hoshiarpur district.