New Delhi: Former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia will start his ‘padyatra’ (foot march outreach) in the capital on Friday, August 16, which happens to be jailed chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s birthday. Manish Sisodia, who was granted bail by the Supreme Court last week in the Delhi excise policy case, will begin the march from DDA Flats in Kalkaji, under the Greater Kailash assembly constituency, at 5pm.
The foot march is part of a series of outreach programmes planned by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the run-up to next year’s Delhi assembly election, which are likely to take place in February 2025.
The foot march was earlier slated to begin on August 14 but was postponed due to security issues in the run-up to Independence Day.
“When permission was sought from the police department, the police department suggested because it is the atmosphere of 15th August and given the security and vigilance… it will be better to start it in two to four days from the security point of view. This advice from the police also seemed reasonable to us,” AAP minister and spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj had said earlier.
Bharadwaj also said it was probably a “nature’s” plan that the padayatra will now begin on August 16, which happens to be Arvind Kejriwal’s birthday.
“According to Hindi calendar, his birthday is on Janmashtami but according to English calendar, it falls on August 16. Whatever happens, happens for good. Maybe it was nature’s plan that the padyatra begins on Kejriwal’s birthday,” he added.
