The man who 'crowned' Arvind Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: Mohammed Chaman had begun to think Arvind Kejriwal was a waste of time. The 42-year-old Sadar Bazaar trader who first supplied the Aam Aadmi Party with its most visible symbol — the white Gandhi topi with the words Main Hoon Aam Aadmi emblazoned on either side — had decided the effort involved in trekking all the way to Kejriwal’s office in Kaushambi was far larger than the size of the orders Kejriwal placed with him.
“This was when Kejriwal had first announced he would form a political party,” says Chaman. “His volunteers had come to me. They wanted caps for the party.”
So, Chaman was made to board the Metro to Kaushambi and ushered into Kejriwal’s presence. Their meeting was short, about three or four minutes only, says Chaman. And he came out of it the loser.
Kejriwal ordered only 300 caps and Chaman, who supplies caps and other publicity materials to all political parties — he usually makes a 50-paisa profit on every cap he sells — was asked to scale his profit back by 25 paise on each AAP cap he sold to Kejriwal.
The caps, made from a material called China net because it first came from China, although it is now manufactured right here in Delhi at Wazirpur, sell for Rs 3 each.
Chaman says when he quoted his prices to Kejriwal, the AAP leader politely asked him, “But what will you do for the party?” Which is what led to the cut in prices.
“Only 300 caps?” Chand remembers thinking then. “And that too at less of a profit?”
So when Kejriwal’s party called Chaman a second time with an order of 500 caps, the party was politely told the caps would not be delivered to Kaushambi. They would have to come and get them themselves.
Of course, Chaman is singing a somewhat different tune nowadays. He has in the last seven months sold three lakhs of the white topis — much more than what he has sold to the BJP or the Congress — and at 25 paise each, he has so far made a profit of Rs 75,000 on the caps.
He disagrees when you tell him that that is not a substantial sum. “That may be so,” he says “but this has been a consistent business. Demand for the caps has remained steady.”
And, he adds, with the general elections coming and AAP broadening its national footprint, he sees only good days ahead. Demand for the caps, he says, has already started coming in from Haryana, UP and Bihar. Although he does add that he will have to share his profits with about 10 other Sadar Bazaar traders who have also been contracted to supply the caps.
What did he think of Kejriwal when he met him? Chaman says he thought the current chief minister of the national capital spoke politely, while also being a straight shooter. And of course, adds Chaman, he has a very fine mind. He didn’t then think Kejriwal’s door-to-door style of campaigning would reap any dividends but, he now says, of course it has.
Just before Kejriwal was sworn in as chief minister, Chaman dropped in at the AAP office on Hanuman Road near Connaught Place. “I thought it would be a good idea to meet Kejriwal then because it will become impossible to meet him after he officially takes over as chief minister.”
Kejriwal was just as courteous to Chaman as Chaman had once been to him. “He was in a meeting,” says Chaman. “I’m afraid he wasn’t able to make the time to meet me.”
But Chaman says he was assured by party workers there that Kejriwal would meet him when he next decides to drop in, never mind whether Kejriwal is officially chief minister or not.
Is there something specific that Chaman will be asking for? “Yes,” he says. “I will ask the chief minister to remove the 5% VAT the government levies on the sale of my caps.”