Gujarat: After dinner with Kejriwal, auto-rickshaw driver declares himself as ‘PM Modi’s fan’
An Ahmedabad autorickshaw driver, who hosted a dinner for Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal at his modest home two weeks ago and grabbed the headlines, on Friday landed up at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in the city with a claim that he was a huge fan of him and die-hard supporter of the BJP.
Vikram Dantani, who lives in a modest middle-class home in Ahmedabad’s Ghatlodia area and drove Kejriwal to his home in his three-wheeler for dinner on September 13, reached Modi’s rally venue in the Thaltej area in one of the buses arranged by the BJP to bring people there.
He was wearing the BJP’s saffron cap and a saffron sash when he was spotted at the venue where the Prime Minister addressed a huge crowd after inaugurating the first phase of the east-west corridor of the Ahmedabad Metro.
When media persons confronted him with a barrage of questions, Dantani claimed that the autorickshaw drivers’ union had asked him to invite the Delhi Chief Minister at his home for dinner during a September 13 town hall meeting with the auto drivers who represented their issues to him.
“I invited him for dinner after our union leaders told me to. Immediately after I offered to host him, he accepted it. I never knew it would blow up into such a big issue,” Dantani told mediapersons. He added that, “I am not associated with the AAP and not in touch with any of their leaders after that dinner.”
On his reason to attend the rally, the auto driver insisted he was a big admirer of Narendra Modi and had always voted for the BJP. “I am not saying all this under any pressure. I am a huge fan of Modiji and have always been with the BJP and so I came here.”
