The Portfolio Of An Aam Aadmi

IT’S a bright day and Delhi’s deputy CM is walking briskly on the tread-mill at his official residence on Mathura Road.

- Salik Ahmad

He has a little more time to spare today as the ongoing exams have caused a pause in his routine of daily school visits. Manish Sisodia, who holds the education portfolio, besides planning, finance, tourism and a few others, makes it a point to visit a school every morning. Before hitting the treadmill today, the 47-year-old had tea with his wife and 16-year-old son, did a conference call with AAP workers and went through the news brief prepared by his media manager.

Soon it’s nine o’clock and the minister meets a few schoolteachers who have come to tell him their grievances. “Take photos of these and send them to me on WhatsApp,” he tells an assistant, passing him a set of papers that the teachers gave him. A few minutes later, his car is speeding on a Delhi road. Clad in a maroon linen shirt, beige pants and sandals, he is constantly looking at his phone and intermittently asking his personal assistant to dial various numbers. “I wonder how difficult governance would have been before WhatsApp,” he says. “It’s so convenient now. The officer concerned sends me the document here. I send my comments also on WhatsApp. He makes the noting on the hard copy and, when it comes to my office, I just have to sign it.”