Kejriwal unpacks his famed muffler, Twitter says it’s winter in Delhi

New Delhi: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s famed muffler has been unpacked. Popularly known as “muffler man” on social media, the Delhi chief minister on Friday tweeted: “The cold is here. The muffler has come out. All of you take care.”

TV journalist-turned AAp politician Ashutosh was quick to react, saying: “As the man himself has taken out his muffler, winter’s declared officially.”

There was much excitement among the Twitterati over Mr Kejriwal so sportingly “owning” his muffler. Such was Twitter’s excitement, they even made #Muffler-ManInPunjab (hinting at the upcoming Assembly elections in Punjab) trend on the social networking site.

Mr Kejriwal, who in spite of his simple dressing sense, began to be associated with his trademark mufflers when he ran his first chief ministerial campaign in the winter of 2013, a time recalled by his party colleagues as the winter of discontent, as he had to step down from the post of chief minister just after 49 days in office.

The Delhi chief minister, on his own, had decided to keep his signature muffler even when a section of people, including his arch political rivals, poked gentle fun at him for
ubiquitous attire and his persistent hacking cough.

The AAP supremo had to undergo surgery to get rid of his chronic coughing.

With his growing political stature, he had repeatedly been making references to his trademark muffler. After the CBI raided Delhi Secretariat in December last, he joked that the investigating agency wouldn’t find anything except for his mufflers.

He had said, “My office was recently raided. If they (CBI) raid my house, they will find nothing, but only four unaccounted mufflers.”

Mr Kejriwal’s love for his mufflers can be gauged from the fact that he even appeared in a TV advertisement promoting odd-even car rationing scheme with a muffler wrapped around his head and neck. Now, winter has rolled in again and the Delhi CM and his
ubiquitous muffler, to protect his throat from the cold and smoggy winter air, are again reunited.

The excited Twitterati is reacting to his tweets in the same measure the way it used to in the past as well.