Politics

AAP Chief Kejriwal’s Mission Gujarat Looks To Land BJP’s Main Challenger Space In 2022 Elections

August 1, 2022
Bharat Times

Come August, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Commander-in-Chief Arvind Kejriwal will launch a blitzkrieg campaign in Gujarat, the home region of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. The allegations leveled by central agencies against two of his close aides Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain seem to have only bolstered Kejriwal’s resolve to break down the lion’s den and pitch the party’s prospects in a high-stakes battle.

With Singapore trip cancelled, Kejriwal fails to get clearance on time Lieutenant Governor of DelhiInstead you will hit the ground in Gujarat on August 1, 4, 7 and 10, beginning with a public rally in Somnath and then visiting Rajkot and then Bhavnagar, the epicenter of the Gujarat liquor tragedy.

Sources say that more ‘Kejriwal Guarantee’ is expected to be announced, while Bhavnagar will be the focus.

For the first time, with the entry of AAP, the 2022 Gujarat assembly elections could turn into a triangular contest instead of the traditional bipolar battle that the state has been witness to.

‘Dry’ illicit liquor in Gujarat

The AAP, which is facing a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe over its excise policy in Delhi, has left no stone unturned to uncover the number of deaths due to consumption of illicit liquor in Batod, Bhavnagar, dry Gujarat.

Not only did Kejriwal visit Bhavnagar and demand compensation for the families of those who lost their lives and those undergoing treatment, AAP MPs Sanjay Singh, Sushil Gupta and Sandeep Pathak drew the attention of the House with placards shouting slogans in the Well . House, which resulted in his expulsion. AAP workers have also taken to the streets in Delhi and Gujarat to demand accountability and resignation of Chief Minister CR Patil.

Asked whether AAP plans to make it a major election issue ahead of the polls, AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP and Gujarat in-charge Sandeep Pathak said the issue is beyond the nuts and bolts of politics and campaign.

Read also | Seeked government’s reply on poisonous liquor scandal in Gujarat, but was suspended: AAP MP Sanjay Singh

“The matter is so serious that we do not consider it to be an issue of our campaign alone. It is our political responsibility to raise it on every platform on humanitarian grounds. More than 75 people have lost their lives. The situation is so serious that they are not even admitting people to hospitals,” he says, adding that “every political party should raise this issue worth its salt.”

Pathak points out that protesting the deaths has nothing to do with his standard campaign strategy, which has already been drawn up and implemented. However, the AAP will continue to raise the issue till the “government addresses the major concerns” and attacks the root of the massive tragedy. Kejriwal has promised that if the people of Gujarat give a chance to the party, then the prohibition of liquor will be strictly implemented.

‘Kejriwal Guarantee’

The AAP’s signature campaign, with the staggering release of ‘Kejriwal ki Guarantee’, has already started on 21st July, with the AAP chief offering 300 units of free electricity, uninterrupted power supply every month and waiving dues by December 31 has announced. , in Surat

Party sources say the response of the people to the free electricity campaign has been “unprecedented”.

A week earlier, on 26 July, Kejriwal visited the iconic Somnath temple to offer prayers, accompanied traders to Rajkot for a ‘town hall’, where he asked within six months, including refund of VAT and simplification of goods and services. Announced five guarantees. do.

In the days to come, expect AAP to reach out to the businessmen considered to be the main supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party more quickly.

Signing off his dialogue with the traders, Kejriwal had clearly said: “When our government was formed in Delhi, it was said that the traders of Delhi were the vote bank of the BJP… please call your friends and relatives and if If they say so, Delhi government is not performing well, don’t vote for us. But if they say that our government is performing well, then we should also get a chance in Gujarat.

The party also held a ‘Tiranga Rally’ in Mehsana on June 6, led by AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, state president Gopal Italia and AAP leader Isudhan Gadhvi.

Speaking about a recent poll that voted the ruling BJP over 40%, the opposition Congress over 30% and the new kid on the block, AAP over 13%, Pathak says, “I don’t think This is a current. Survey. This is a one or two month old survey. Our survey gives us so much more than what you’ve seen on TV. We have already crossed 20%, but this is not the right time to reveal our survey estimates. ,

On the challenge put forth by the opposition Congress in Gujarat, which is also reflected in the survey findings, Pathak says, although he has sufficient grounds to challenge the survey findings, he will set it aside for the time being and instead the Congress. will talk about. In Gujarat.

“The Congress party is almost dead, but what you will find are the remnants of the party scattered across the state, especially in rural areas. However, their organization is dead due to lack of vision and focus, due to crippling weaknesses in its functioning and leadership. The vote share that appears to support him will eventually leave him. ,

He says that you are confident and comfortable with the results of the survey.

AAP’s Delhi MLA, Spokesperson and Deputy Chairman of Delhi Jal Board Saurabh Bhardwaj says that a lot of people in India doubt the Congress. “People are afraid to vote for Congress because if they form the government, others buy their MLAs and bring down their government. It has happened in Madhya Pradesh, Goa and Karnataka.”

What’s different this time?

Bhardwaj believes that there is a huge difference between the last time, when the party was gearing up for Gujarat Assembly elections in 2017, and this time.

“Last time, we had a new government and there was a tussle between our government and the central government, but this time, when we go for elections, we have a track record of almost seven years, delivery and the ‘Delhi model’. ‘ To show the people of Gujarat.

Read also | Ahead of Gujarat elections, Arvind Kejriwal visits Somnath temple, prays for country’s progress, peace

Bhardwaj compared electoral Gujarat with the recently concluded Punjab elections. “When we contested assembly elections for the first time in Punjab, we hardly had anything to show other than our intentions, but now we have education model, health model, electricity and water subsidy for many years now. People can now believe that the party which has worked in Delhi can do the same in Gujarat.”

Secondly, he says, now the party has governments in two states and people are seeing us as an alternative to the BJP, whereas earlier in 2017 the alternative to the BJP was the Congress.

coalition talks

Pathak ruled out any possibility of an alliance with the Congress to counter the might of the BJP. “No, no, not at all. Not in this lifetime,” he says.

Has the party not already announced an alliance with the Indian Tribal Party (BTP) led by Chhotubhai Vasava? Is the party not ready for a pre-poll alliance in Gujarat? “We have not yet formalized any pre-poll or post-poll agreement with BTP. They are doing good work in tribal area. We are moving forward with them in a friendly spirit,” he says.

On seat-sharing between AAP and BTP, Pathak says that AAP will reveal it in the coming days, but till now no official agreement has been reached between the two.

Read also | AAP Gujarat chief wrote: Not only Congress, AAP is also an option for BJP

“What I am seeing in Gujarat now is that people are fed up with the 27-year-old rule of the BJP, disappointed. They feel they have no choice as Congress was never their choice. Now, with AAP fighting these elections with full force and the Delhi chief minister visiting Gujarat almost every week, the cadre has become active,” says Bhardwaj.

He says another indicator of AAP’s “good prospects of government formation” in Gujarat is the Surat municipal elections, where people chose AAP as the opposition party, giving it more seats than the Congress.

The Delhi MLA feels that this is the reason why the central government agencies and the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi are targeting the MLAs and ministers of the Aam Aadmi Party. “You can feel the panic in the top BJP leadership over Gujarat,” he says.

challenges galore

With the arrest of Delhi minister Satyendar Jain, a CBI inquiry against Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia over the then excise policy and the Lokayukta probing alleged financial irregularities in the construction of classrooms, AAP has a bigger challenge on its hands.

Are party strategists worried about the impact of the ongoing probe against the Kejriwal government in electoral states?

Pathak, the party’s leader on the ground in Gujarat, points out that the CBI raids on the chief minister’s office and residence and the deputy CM’s residence did not prevent the party from winning the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections with an overwhelming majority. “They are registering so many cases, it is proof that we in Gujarat are doing much better than the general perception,” he said. This is going to weigh heavily on the BJP. The public perception is clear that this is an exercise of retaliation to discourage AAP from contesting elections.

Read also | special | Survey key, good opportunity in Gujarat: AAP’s silent strategist Sandeep Pathak approaches News18

Pathak believes that the BJP is exposing its weakness by bringing agency after agency on AAP ministers and MLAs. “If you are on weak ground, if you feel threatened by any other party, you adopt such tactics. AAP is getting stronger day by day. I think it’s bad for them. It will be good for us in the eyes of the people.”

Bhardwaj argues that the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) are harsh and go against the principles of natural justice. He further says that BJP will use it PMLA against its political opponents More often than not it can be the reference point to decide who is honest.

“People of Gujarat know about the Gujarat model and how political opponents were silenced. They understand,” he says.

Read also | Gujarat in search of change; You are the medicine to cure BJP: Arvind Kejriwal

Asked if the party is ready to take up the challenge of multiple cases against prominent figures within AAP, Bharadwaj says, “There is nothing to prepare, we only have to prepare ourselves to go to jail, And our people are ready for it.”

The already apparently apparent confrontation between the AAP and the BJP’s top leadership will likely peak ahead of the Gujarat assembly elections.

Political analysts believe that the BJP is well positioned to win the election, with the AAP splitting the vote share of the opposition. However, AAP sees it differently. Pathak says, “The fight in Gujarat is between AAP and BJP, so if the BJP has to win, it will have to fight hard. Our campaign will be high-octane, many times more than what you saw in Punjab. We are going to challenge them in a big way and they will experience an election they have never seen before.”

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