India’s most famous muffler is about to make its return

With the mercury dropping in New Delhi and assembly elections now likely early next year, India’s most famous scarf—or muffler, to be precise—is set to make its return to the capital city.

It first attained stardom last winter when its owner, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal, campaigned assiduously to win 28 of Delhi’s 70 assembly constituencies. A stunned political establishment watched as the muffler-clad, first-time candidate took oath as the state’s chief minister.

And it stayed mostly coiled around Kejriwal’s neck or wrapped around his head for the next 48 days, before he resigned as chief minister—an act he later termed as a mistake.

That error in judgment—along with Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s unstoppable rise since—could mean that Kejriwal will have a harder time convincing Delhi voters that he and the Aam Aadmi Party are still their best choice this time around.

The unprecedented media attention and public adulation that he received last winter would probably be diminished this year. Yet, he will still hopefully own—and wear—India’s most famous muffler.

Quartz takes you through a photographic journey of Kejriwal’s rise and fall, almost always accompanied by his iconic piece of winter clothing.