BHIWANI: As Aam Aadmi Party today scored a thumping majority in the Delhi Assembly elections, jubilation among residents of its chief Arvind Kejriwal's native village was evident as many distributed sweets and burst crackers to mark "people's victory".
A dusty village in the Bhiwani region of Haryana that has produced three chief ministers celebrated the success of its native Kejriwal, who will take oath as Delhi's chief minister on February 14.
Bansi Lal, Banarsi Dass and Master Hukam Singh are the other three chief ministers from Bhiwani.
"It is a matter of great joy and happiness for all of us. There have been celebrations in the family. It is victory of the people," Kejriwal's cousin Suman told PTI over phone.
While Kejriwal's ancestors hailed from Kheda village of Bhiwani, the family is now based in Siwani village in the same district, over 60 km from Bhiwani.
Some 15 shopkeepers at Siwani tehsil distributed sweets and burst crackers to celebrate the occasion, Suman's husband Ankur Goel said.
People celebrated in Hisar, Siwani and Kheda and it was a great moment for them as Kejriwal is set to become the chief minister of Delhi for the second time, he said.
"Suman and I spoke to Kejriwal on phone and congratulated him and his mother Geeta Devi," Ankur said, adding, "Kejriwal told us that it was a victory of the people."
He recalled Kejriwal's last visit to Siwani in July this year after his grandfather Murari Lal passed away.
Meanwhile, some villagers gathered near the Kejriwal home and congratulated the family as they beat the drums.
Kejriwal's close relatives and friends Deen Dayal Bansal and Rattan Lal, too, were in a joyous mood.
"It is a moment of great joy and happiness for not just the family but for every common man, who has been striving to change the system for good," said Suman.
"He was a great orator right from his childhood," she recalled.
Manoj Kumar, a villager, said that Kejriwal's ancestors were of helping nature and had got a well dug-up so that women do not have to walk distances to fetch water.
46-year-old Kejriwal, a Ramon Magsaysay award winner who quit Indian Revenue Services to fight graft came into prominence from the agitation by 75-year-old activist Anna Hazare in support of Jan Lokpal Bill in 2011.
The activist-turned-politician will take oath as Delhi's Chief Minister on February 14.