Two weeks ago, auto-rickshaw driver Vikram Dantani made news after Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal accepted his invitation to dine at his house in Ahmedabad and took Dantani’s three-wheeler to reach the location. Kejriwal was in the city to hold a town hall meeting with auto-rickshaw drivers as part of AAP's campaign in Gujarat ahead of the year-end Assembly elections.
On Friday, however, Dantani was found sporting the trademark saffron cap and scarf, and participating in a Bharatiya Janata Party rally in Thaltej that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was attending as part of his two-day visit to the city. When asked by local media, Dantani claimed his loyalties lie with PM Modi. “I came here (for the rally) because I am a huge fan of Modiji. I have been with the BJP since the beginning and always gave my vote to the BJP in the past. I am not saying this under any pressure,” said Dantani, adding he always voted for the BJP.
Moreover, Dantani made Kejriwal’s actions appear like a political gimmick by saying that officials from the auto-rickshaw union asked him to extend the invitation to the Delhi CM. “I invited Kejriwal for dinner because I was asked to do so by our union leaders. As soon as I offered to host him for a meal at my home, Kejriwal accepted it. I did not know it would become such a big issue. Otherwise, I am not at all associated with the party (AAP). I am not in touch with any AAP leader after that episode,” he told reporters.
A video clip tweeted by the official AAP handle on September 12, shows Dantani standing in the crowd, addressing Kejriwal over a microphone. “I am a big fan. I saw your videos on social media. I saw the video where you went to a Punjab auto-rickshaw driver’s home to eat. I am a Gujarati, will you come to my house to eat?”
Amidst hoots, claps and whistles from the crowd, Kejriwal accepts the invite, and the two fix it for 8pm the same evening, and that Dantani would pick the AAP convener from his five-star hotel, and take him home in his auto-rickshaw. Despite a minor hiccup over security protocols, everything went according to plan, after a police official sat beside the auto-rickshaw driver, Gujarat AAP president Gopal Italia and the party's national joint general secretary, Isudan Gadhvi, sat at the back with Kejriwal, and two police cars followed the three-wheeler till Dantani’s house in Ghatlodia.
Gujarat Minister of State for Home and BJP leader Harsh Sanghvi, had reacted to the video, by tweeting, “What an actor”! Meanwhile, a morphed image did the rounds on social media, showing PM Modi’s portrait at Dantani’s house.
While Dantani claims his allegiance with BJP, the Punjab auto-rickshaw driver who he referred to, who hosted Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann and Harpal Singh Cheema at house on November 2021, is a staunch AAP supporter. Other politicians have also dined with the underprivileged, especially when on a campaigning spree. In 2016, Rahul Gandhi had a meal at a Dalit family’s house in Mau, and 2018, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath ate at a Dalit house in Mehandipur village, Amroha. In November 2020, Home Minister Amit Shah enjoyed Bengali food at a tribal BJP worker's house in Chaturdihi village, Bankura district. In March this year, PM Modi enjoyed a steaming cup of kulhad chai at a tea kiosk called Pappu Chaiwalla, at Assi area after offering prayers at the Kashi Vishwanath Dham.
