Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal heckled for his cough, Nitin Gadkari comes to his rescue

Arvind Kejriwal has been targeted in many ways through his tenure as the Delhi Chief Minister, right from ink to chilli powder. The most distasteful attack probably came on Thursday, when he stepped forward to address the public at an official event in the national capital. People in the front rows stood before him, coughing in chorus.

Apparently, the Delhi Chief Minister used to suffer from a persistent form of cough for over 40 years, before he underwent corrective surgery at a Bengaluru hospital in September 2016. The coughing was obviously in mockery of his ailment — which resulted in some awkwardness at the event, until Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Harsh Vardhan came forward to shush the crowd. Irked by the nuisance, Gadkari said, “Please keep quiet. This is an official event.”

Reportedly, the event was held jointly by the National Mission for Clean Ganga and the Delhi Jal Board, that was aimed at launching a campaign to clean the Yamuna. Other than Arvind Kejriwal, and the two Union ministers, the event was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Minister of State for Water Resources Satyapal Singh and a number of BJP parliamentarians from Delhi.

Earlier too, Delhi Chief Minister has been mocked over his past ailment. Two year ago, video clips of cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu allegedly mocking Kejriwal’s cough went viral on the social media, when he was still contemplating jumping ship from the BJP to the Aam Aadmi Party.

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