‘Beta’ to ‘vidhayakji’, MLAs of Aam Aadmi Party absorbing the change in their fortunes

NEW DELHI: For the new MLAs of Aam Aadmi Party, it was a day for simply absorbing the change in their fortunes. From ‘beta’ , Akhileshpati Tripathi was elevated to ‘vidhayakji’ overnight by the residents of his small colony in Model Town’s Lalbagh . Rinku bhaiya or Dharmendra Koli became MLA sahib while Rakhi Birla was besieged by family and friends.

Several candidates stepped out for a ‘dhanyawad yatra’ in their constituencies . Birla, who was not present at the party’s main CP office on result night, said it was more important for her to visit her constituency and thank the people for their support.

She defeated Congress stalwart and cabinet minister Raj Kumar Chauhan by a margin of over 10,000 votes. “I spent both Sunday and Monday in my constituency. For whatever time I was at home, there was a steady flow of relatives, friends and wellwishers . The victory has still not sunk in,” she said.

Tripathi, who belongs to a village near Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, spent Sunday with family and Monday visiting his constituency. He has been living in the bylanes of Lalbagh with his friend’s parents.

Bindeshwar Jha, his uncle, said Tripathi had really struggled in life and had managed this victory due to his several well-wishers in the basti. The tiny one room where he has been living for the past one-year-and-a half was crowded with visitors. His friends were being stopped by residents looking for ‘vidhayakji’ and enquiring about him.

Tripathi, who was busy with his ‘dhanyawad yatra’ in DESU Colony, seemed a little uncomfortable with the attention he was getting, the fireworks preceding his procession and the flowers being showered upon him.

“We are ready for a hung house and will do much better in the next election. Congress and BJP have ignored our needs for so long that people were desperate for a change,” he said. Asked if the elevation in his status was overwhelming, he said his involvement with social work had been a hugely sobering experience and he was not nervous about his new role.

The changes in their life, now public, did get a little disconcerting for some. Dharmendra Koli, a complete underdog who won from Seemapuri, said he had never attended as many phone calls as he had to in the two days since winning. “On Sunday there were hundreds of people who came home to congratulate me. I am not used to such attention and it was becoming slightly uncomfortable. I am an ordinary man and this elevation in status is so strange,” he laughed.