Autowallas dump their hero, tilts scale towards BJP
Auto wallahs are seen as the omnipresent ears on ground, carrying multiple passengers every day. Also, unlike caste-based or religious groups, they live across the city, potentially increasing their power as influencers.
New Delhi Back in 2013, Arvind Kejriwal , already a middle-class hero for being part of the anti corruption movement headed by Anna Hazare, was the favourite of Delhi’s auto drivers.
It seemed a match made in heaven -- the Aam Aadmi (common man) and one of the ubiquitous means of transport of the Aam Aadmi.
They supported him in 2015, when the Aam Aadmi Party came to power in 2015.
Then, again, in 2020, even as they griped about unfulfilled promises.
But come 2025, and they swung almost wholesale to the other side.
“He (Kejriwal) made big promises but did nothing for us. The biggest problem is that the transport department is full of touts. We have to pay extra money for anything that we have to do. He promised that this corruption would end , but nothing happened. There are still no auto stands for autos in the city. Police keep mistreating us..., fining us for no reason,” said one driver, 45-year-old Sanjay Kumar from Karawal Nagar.
One of AAP’s popular welfare schemes, free bus rides for women, has irked them too.
“Over half of our customers were women travelling short distances. He took that away by offering free bus rides,” said another driver, Vinod, who gave only one name.
Vinod also has a problem with the growing number of bike taxis.
“They keep talking about monitoring bike taxis, but they move freely and charge less, and there is no limit to their numbers. Meanwhile, they have strictly imposed the cap on one lakh auto and no new autos are being registered,”he added.
To be sure, the cap was put in place by the Supreme Court in 1997, which, in 2011, refused to review the number.
Bipin Mahto, an auto driver originally from Champaran in Bihar said he voted for the AAP in Laxmi Nagar constituency, but knows he is in the minority.
“Over 90% of the auto drivers have voted for the BJP this time. Most of the people living in our area have also voted for the BJP. People wanted change. They gave an opportunity to AAP for 10 years and did not see anything happening for them.”
Most parties actively wooed auto drivers in the run-up to the election.
On December 10, AAP announced “Arvind Kejriwal’s first guarantee ahead of assembly polls”, ₹10 lakh life insurance and ₹5 lakh accident insurance for every auto driver if the party came to power. AAP also announced ₹1 lakh to fund the marriage of their daughters, a handout of ₹2,500 twice a year for uniforms, funding their children’s coaching for competitive exams, and the revival of an app for auto drivers that was first announced before the 2015 elections.
Six days later, on December 16, the BJP announced that over 1,000 auto drivers from west and central Delhi have pledged their support for the party. Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Delhi BJP also announced the immediate reduction of auto-rickshaw parking charges from ₹708 to ₹200 and black-and-yellow taxi parking charges from ₹1180 to ₹400. The BJP also announced that the other demands submitted by the Delhi Auto Drivers Association and Delhi Divisional Coolie Union would be fulfilled once the BJP came to power.
Delhi has over 15.5 million registered voters and just 98,000 registered autos .
However, auto wallahs are seen as the omnipresent ears on ground, carrying multiple passengers every day. Also, unlike caste-based or religious groups, they live across the city, potentially increasing their power as influencers. Indeed, in past elections, they have actively canvassed for political parties, and participated in rallies and meetings. AAP used autos extensively during its campaign in 2013 and 2015, while other parties have run anti-AAP campaigns on autos. The leaders of the auto drivers’ unions claim to be non-aligned though most are affiliated with one political party or another.