Further strengthening the feeling of empowerment among the aam aadmi , Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday invited a 60-year-old thela (cart) rickshaw-puller to inaugurate an upgraded maternal hospital in Lodhi Colony.
Vijay Baba, who carries goods to and from shops in the Connaught Place area, inaugurated the upgraded facilities at the hospital by unveiling the plaque in the presence of Mr. Kejriwal.
Baba said to The Hindu : “I feel immensely happy inaugurating the upgraded hospital. I am very thankful to Kejriwal ji.”
Baba has been a hardcore supporter of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the past two years. “I travelled to almost every area of Delhi with my rickshaw in support of the AAP,” he said. He lives in a makeshift tent built with tarpaulin outside Aulia Masjid in the posh Connaught Place with his 14-year-old son, Suraj.
“About five days ago, some AAP workers came to me and said the Chief Minister wanted me to inaugurate the hospital. I wondered how a Chief Minister could ask a thela rickshaw-wala to do the honour which he is entitled to do,” a visibly jubilant Baba told The Hindu.
He said Mr. Kejriwal called him on Friday and requested to be ready for the inauguration.
