New Delhi: When Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge here on Saturday, the political significance of the meeting was not lost on anyone. Seat sharing between political parties is arduous and the meeting signified that the two parties, bêtes noires in Delhi and Punjab, have made progress on a contentious matter. But what really caught the eyes of netizens was what Kharge was wearing.
The Congress leader who hails from Karnataka was wearing a scarf to beat the biting cold of Delhi, which has been particularly severe this year. And the manner he was wearing it, covering his head, reminded people about Kejriwal’s trademark style. The Delhi CM had not long ago made a woolly scarf a kind of political statement, participating in political agitations with his head wrapped in the ‘Kejriwal muffler’.
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A few years ago, he had ditched the style though. So much so that when Delhi was severely cold two years ago, people wondered why Kejriwal wasn’t wearing his trademark muffler.
In 2019, when asked on Twitter why he ditched his trademark sartorial choice, he replied: "I had taken the muffler off a long time back. You didn’t notice. It is very cold. You all take care".
{{/usCountry}}In 2019, when asked on Twitter why he ditched his trademark sartorial choice, he replied: "I had taken the muffler off a long time back. You didn’t notice. It is very cold. You all take care".
{{/usCountry}}Also read: Arvind Kejriwal’s muffler is missing. You haven’t noticed, he tells Twitter
Social media reacts
Scores of people noted Kharge's muffler statement.
The history of mufflers in Delhi's politics
When Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party unexpectedly ascended to power in 2013, his political opponents mocked his 'common man' demeanor, including his trademark muffler wrapped around his ears and head.
Undeterred, he and his party used the muffler, coupled with a simple sweater, to reinforce Kejriwal's image as a common man. Before the 2015 election, AAP ran an election campaign with the tagline "Muffler Man Returns”. The name resonated with the masses; the party won 67 out of the Delhi Assembly's 70 seats.
Also read: CBI will find nothing but unaccounted mufflers in my house: Kejriwal
Since then, #MufflerMan became the announcement of the arrival of winter for the Aam Aadmi Party on Twitter.
The muffler had become such a big part of Kejriwal's political identity that when the CBI raided his house in December 2015, he quipped the agency wouldn't find anything apart from "unaccounted mufflers".
After a lull of four years, muffler has made a re-entry into the politics of Delhi -- astride a different human.