AAP to contest on all 182 seats Gujarat Assembly polls

Ahmedabad:On his second visit to Gujarat this year, AAP National Convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal announced that AAP will contest all seats in the Gujarat Assembly polls in 2022.

CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal was on his visit to inaugurate the state party office in Gujarat on Monday, where he also welcomed popular Gujarati journalist Mr. Isudan Gadhvi to the Aam Aadmi Party. AAP Delhi MLA Gulab Singh, who is also the AAP's Gujarat in-charge, Gopal Italia, state president of AAP Gujarat, and Manoj Bhai Sarothiya, State General Secretary of Gujarat, also welcomed Mr. Isudan along with CM Kejriwal.

After landing in Gujarat, CM Arvind Kejriwal paid a visit to the famous Krishna Temple, after which he welcomed Mr. Isudan through a press conference. After the joining, CM Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated the state party office in Ahmedabad.

CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal said, “First of all, I want to tell you about a short incident. Today I came to Ahmedabad early in the morning from Delhi. When I was coming out of the Ahmedabad Airport, a worker stopped me and asked for a picture with me. He then asked me the reason for my visit. I told them that Isudan Ji is joining the Aam Aadmi Party. Surprised, he commented that Isudan Ji is the Kejriwal of Gujarat. The people of Gujrat see Isudan Ji as the hero of Gujarat .” 

He said, “The people of Gujarat have played a very important role in the Indian Independence movement. The biggest leaders of the country belong to the land of Gujarat. And not just leaders, even the common people made the biggest sacrifices in the independence movement. When the country got independence, it was divided into princely states. It was then Sardar Patel took the effort to unify the country. After a great struggle, he unified the nation. But what happened after that? The past 75 years is a story of the rule of Congress and the BJP and today the condition of Gujarat is only a product of such actions of the Congress and the BJP. For the past 27 years, only one party has been ruling Gujarat. But the past 27 years are a story of the partnership of these two parties, it is a tale of friendship of these two parties .” 

He said, “They say that the BJP has Congress in its pocket. Whenever BJP needs, the supply of leaders and resources is fulfilled by Congress. How will this work? Who will think about Gujarat? Today the farmers of Gujarat are committing suicide even after 75 years. The conditions of the government schools and government hospitals are extremely poor. The businessmen of Gujarat are scared, even after the country is independent. Few months ago, I had to tour a very big Chamber of Commerce to which I had been invited. At the last minute, the authorities of Gujarat pressurised them to cancel my tour. What is this? The traders of Gujarat are scared and within the last one year of the Coronavirus pandemic, Gujarat was left orphaned and it seemed like no one was interested in taking care of Gujarat.” 

CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal said, “In such a situation, the decision that Isudan Gadhvi Ji has taken of coming into politics, I congratulate Isudan Ji from the bottom of my heart. What was his need? When someone’s career comes to an end, when there is no one to ask for you, then if someone enters into politics, it is understandable. But if someone enters politics at the peak of their career, that person is surely entering into it to work for the people of Gujarat. Since the past few years, Isudan ji through his TV Channel and his program had become the voice of the common Gujaratis. He used to raise people’s voices, and people used to relate to him. Today, every person of Gujarat relates to Isudan ji. People think he is raising their voices, but raising his voice by staying out of the system has its limits. We can criticize, create noise, protest, raise our voices on TV, debate and show it on the news by staying outside the system. But when the parties form an alliance and say "do whatever you want to, we do not care, we know the results of the election that we are to win", what is one supposed to do ?” 

He added, “So Isudan ji decided to enter into the system, to clean it from within. I understand this is a huge sacrifice. It is not a small thing that a person who is at the top and at the peak of his career, turns it away, to enter into politics. I want to congratulate him and I respect his sacrifice. I understand that the common Gujarati who was left with no choices, where he/she understood that the other two parties are alike, that it does not matter whom to give a vote to since both are the same, today they have gotten a competent choice.” 

He said, “A person sitting in Gujarat also observes that if electricity can be given 24x7 for free in Delhi, why is it so expensive in Gujarat? The person sitting in Gujarat will observe that if the hospitals in Delhi can be improved within five years, if the schools in Delhi can be improved within five years, then why haven’t the schools and hospitals of Gujarat improved in the past 70 years?” 

CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal said, “Now it will happen, now Gujarat will transform. We are sitting in a temple today, a very pious place. I pray to God that the effort Isudan Ji has taken of fulfilling the dreams of the people of Gujarat will transform Gujarat with the support of Gopal Italia Ji, Manoj Bhai, together with the six crore people of Gujarat.”

Profile of Mr. Isudan Gadhvi

Isudan Gadhvi is a journalist and the ex-editor of VTV News and the ex-host of Mahamanthan, the most popular debate show in Gujarat. From 2007 to 2011, Isudan Gadhvi worked in Porbandar as a journalist with ETV Gujarati (now TV-18). During his Porbandar tenure, he did several people-centric news stories. From 2011 to 2015, Gadhvi took on various roles in the channel from Senior Journalist posted in Gandhinagar covering political and governance-related stories to the state bureau chief in Ahmedabad. In April 2015, he joined VTV News as the channel head, making him the youngest channel head in the Gujarati news circuit. Through his skills and vision, Isudan Gadhvi has restructured news stories, special programs, and investigative news stories that have created a huge impact in the Gujarati News channel arena. He became the voice of Gujarat after launching a new program named MAHAMANTHAN on VTV News that he anchored all seven days at prime time at 8.00 PM.