Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal courted controversy during his visit here on Friday after he took a Mercedes car from the airport to reach a hotel and then flew back to Delhi in a chartered plane.
Mr. Kejriwal was here to speak at a private media event.
Following outrage on social media, Mr. Kejriwal — who has repeatedly questioned Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi over their use of choppers and private planes — was quick to tweet an explanation saying the plane trip was paid for by a media group. “Reached india today conclave from jaipur. Since there was no regular flt, india today group hired a charter to reach me in delhi on time ... [sic.],” tweeted Mr. Kejriwal.
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“I wud urge modi ji and rahul gandhi ji also to disclose whose planes r they using and who pays for them [sic],” he tweeted.
Speaking at the event here earlier, Mr. Kejriwal said Mr. Modi did not meet the media, travelled in private planes, got down to give a speech and then flew back.
“This is not democracy,” said Mr. Kejriwal.
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Ironically, right after his speech, the AAP leader rushed out of the venue without meeting mediapersons, who had been waiting for over an hour, and flew back to Delhi in a private long-range plane.
During his speech, Mr. Kejriwal said he expected that the Lok Sabha elections would mark a transitory phase in Indian democracy and would return a fractured mandate.
The former Delhi Chief Minister denied the existence of a “Modi wave” in the country.
“This is not a Modi wave, it is a wave of people’s anger ... and if this anger is channelised, a major change would occur,” said Mr. Kejriwal.
The AAP chief took potshots at the Congress-led UPA government and the opposition BJP for “being hand in glove with big business.”