Arvind Kejriwal’s Wagon R stolen from outside Delhi Secretariat

An iconic blue Maruti WagonR car that Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal drove around in his early political career and even camped in during an agitation in 2014 was stolen from outside the Delhi Secretariat on Thursday, police said.

The car was being used by Vandana Singh, the Aam Aadmi Party’s in-charge of youth wing and the party’s media coordinator, and was often seen parked at the party office at Central Delhi’s Deen Dayal Upadhya Marg.

Anto Alphonse, additional DCP (central), said the theft occurred around 1 pm and was captured by a CCTV camera installed outside the secretariat.

“But the footage is blurred,” said Alphonse, adding the vehicle remains untraced.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal takes shelter in his blue Wagon R as it rains on the second day of his dharna near Rail Bhavan in New Delhi on September 9, 2014. (PT File Photo)

Once nicknamed ‘AAP Mobile’ – a take on the Popemobile used by the head of the Catholic Church – the hatchback shot to limelight in January 2014 when Kejriwal used it to camp and sleep in during a protest against the Delhi Police at the Rail Bhawan.

The vehicle was synonymous to Kejriwal’s posturing as a ‘people’s chief minister’. From the days of campaigning during his first election in 2013 to becoming the CM, the car remained his choice of commute.

Party’s UK-based volunteer Kundan Sharma, a software engineer, had donated the car to Kejriwal in January 2013. Upset over the removal of party founders Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, Sharma had sought the car back in April 2015. Later he said it was an attention seeking gesture.

After using it during his famous 49-day-stint, Kejriwal gave it to Naveen Jaihind, the party’s Haryana incharge. Jaihind used the car for campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls in Rohtak before Vandana took possession of the car.

The incident also highlighted the growing menace of car thefts in the national capital where 112 vehicles are stolen everyday on an average

This year till September 30, more than 30,000 vehicles have been stolen in Delhi.

Less than 10% of the stolen vehicles are recovered.