"Paanch Saal Kejriwal" reverberates in Capital

New Delhi, Feb 10: For hundreds of(AAP) volunteers who had toiled in the cold for more than two months, the brute majority for the party sent them into raptures today as they hummed the poll jingle "Paanch Saal Kejriwal" in groups across the Capital.

As the initial trends suggesting a victory for Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) started pouring in, more and more volunteers started gathering outside the party office in a busy locality of Patel Nagar.

From Patel Nagar Metro station where rickshaw drivers, wearing AAP caps and a party flag on their vehicles to the road leading to the party office, volunteers started pouring in when the counting commenced at 8 am.

The mood was totally opposite when the party contested its first Lok Sabha elections last year and there were more media personnel than the volunteers at Hanuman Road office on the day of counting on May 16. The nascent party did not win any of the seven seats at stake in the Capital.

Today, it was a total turnaround as the volunteers savoured every moment of the party's march to a landslide win. By 9 am, the results indicated that AAP was heading to a stunning victory.

Having anticipated a better show this time, the party had made elaborate arrangements outside its Patel Nagar office. It had also put out more than three LED screens outside the party office for its volunteers. It had not only decorated the party office with ballons, but had arranged for flowers to be pumped in from the building terrace on their leaders and volunteers to bringing drums and bursting crackers.

Each time the party tally increased, AAP volunteers roared and more crackers burst. The party office was surrounded by jubilant AAP volunteers of different age groups- from college going, middle-aged and even senior citizens, with AAP caps, Stole and Muffler Man hoodies wielding their party symbol broom danced to the tune of Paanch Saal Kejriwal(Five years for Kejriwal)--a song composed by noted music director Vishal Dadlani, specially for the Delhi elections.

At around 10.30 am when trends showed more than 65 seats for the party, volunteers were getting restless to listen to their leaders. They erupted in joy seeing AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal coming out on the rampart of the party office to address them.

"No one could stop Modi's victory rath (chariot)...in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir. But Kejriwal halted it in Delhi," said Megh Raj Singh (26), a volunteer from Badli.

"We put on the television at 5.30 AM in the morning for the results (unaware that counting starts at 8 AM). Then we decided to come here," said Satto Sahani (35), a fish vendor residing near Shadipur bus depot, who had come along with his wife.

Even journalists from the foreign media were seen covering the celebrations at the AAP office.

"I have an interest in India," said Daniel Pagani, a freelance Italian journalist residing in India. There were periodic roars of joy when it was announced that Kejriwal won from New Delhi seat. When television channels announced defeat of BJP's chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi, the roar reached a crescendo.

PTI