New Delhi: Seven years after resigning from the Aam Aadmi Party, social activist and Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) founder Medha Patkar’s ties with AAP have turned a political hotbed in electoral Gujarat.
While Patkar was in the vision of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the real target is Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is working to expand the AAP’s footprint in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state.
Condemning the movement that Patkar led Sardar Sarovar DamoThe ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been attacking AAP over unconfirmed claims that he may be declared the party’s chief ministerial candidate. The claims initially made by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel were amplified last week by BJP spokespersons and top leaders including Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
However, both Patkar and AAP – a new entrant to Gujarat – have ruled out the possibility of him being the party’s chief ministerial face.
AAP joint general secretary Isudan Gadhvi told ThePrint, “To say that AAP is fielding Medha Patkar as its chief ministerial candidate in Gujarat is tantamount to saying that the BJP is projecting Sonia Gandhi as its prime ministerial face. “
Another Gujarat AAP leader claimed that the BJP is realizing that the Congress is no longer in a position to counter it and the AAP’s story is gaining momentum. “That’s why they [BJP leaders] Rumors are turning into news, even the Home Minister is commenting on it. It is hilarious,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gujarat BJP general secretary Bhargava Bhatt told ThePrint that if the AAP has no plans to project Patkar as its chief ministerial candidate, it should publicly refute such claims.
“But there is no denying that. Gujaratis know how Patkar betrayed Gujarat over the last two decades by flagging the Narmada issue. The prime minister is the one who made water availability possible in the drought-prone areas of Kutch. Gujarat never missed Medha Patkar. will not accept.
Another Gujarat BJP leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told ThePrint: “The AAP is trying to garner support in the tribal region. That’s why he has made an alliance with the tribal party. [Bharatiya Tribal Party], They may consider gaining a foothold in the tribal areas where Patkar has worked, but it will be counterproductive if they announce his candidature.
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Grape Roots
The claims of Medha Patkar’s “new relationship” with AAP were first made by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel at a public meeting in Bhuj district on August 28.
Patel sharing the state with PM Modi Told In his speech that “we should remember those who deprived Kutch of Narmada water for five decades”.
“We already know who the protesting urban Naxals were. These people tried to deprive Gujarat and Kutch from development. One such person is Medha Patkar. They misled Gujarat and tried to bring Naxalism in the state, but the people of Gujarat and Kutch did not allow their wish to be fulfilled.
Referring to how Patkar contested the 2014 general election on an AAP ticket from north-east Mumbai before quitting the party in 2015, the chief minister said: “Everyone knows which party a person like Medha Patkar belongs to, which gave him the ticket. was given to contest the parliamentary elections. They tried to mislead Gujarat but the intelligent people of Gujarat did not accept such people.
Two days later, on 29 August, Suresh Nakhua, the official spokesperson of the Mumbai BJP, said, tweetedIf sources are to be believed, anti-India, anti-development, anti-Gujarat Medha Patkar will be declared CM face of Kejriwal Lokpal Dal in Gujarat. [sic],
Delhi BJP leader Kapil Mishra also on the same day. Claimed Patkar will be the AAP’s chief ministerial candidate in Gujarat. Yes, Medha Patkar, who stopped the water, conspired against the dam, defamed Gujarat and ran a shop in the name of agitation. [sic]”He tweeted.
Patkar, in Tweet On 30 August, refuted the speculation and wrote: “I left the party”. [AAP] Within few months only in 2014 and I am never in party politics!!! How can BJP supporters know AAP’s decision as a false claim..!???”
Later that day, the Gujarat BJP launched a social media campaign with the theme “Anti-Gujarat AAP”. Tweets on the subject, criticizing AAP and Patkar, were shared widely by BJP MPs, office-bearers and leaders including Gujarat BJP IT cell convenor Nikhil Patel and Gujarat. BJP general secretary Pradeep Singh Vaghela.
R જેમણે જેમણે જેમણે ઈન્ટરવ્યૂમાં ઈન્ટરવ્યૂમાં કે કે, સરદાર સરોવર સરોવર તરીકે રખાશે રખાશે અને અને અને અને આ થાય થાય તો તો તો પણ કચ્છ કચ્છ કચ્છ કચ્છ કચ્છ કચ્છ કચ્છ કચ્છ કચ્છ કચ્છ કચ્છ કચ્છ કચ્છ કચ્છ કચ્છ કચ્છ કચ્છ કચ્છ કચ્છ કચ્છ કચ્છ કચ્છ પણ પણ તો પરિયોજના થાય અને રખાશે સ્મારક સ્મારક સ્મારક સ્મારક સ્મારક સ્મારક સ્મારક સ્મારક સ્મારક સ્મારક સ્મારક સ્મારક સ્મારક સ્મારક સ્મારક સ્મારક rને pic.twitter.com/pNKRUXzz3T
— BJP Gujarat (@BJP4Gujarat) 30 August 2022
Patel tweeted On 1 September, “AAP’s 13 declared candidates” led by former Congress MLA Indranil Rajguru “refused” Patkar to contest elections in Gujarat for being the party’s CM face.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah also reiterated the claims of Patkar and AAP Addressed to A curtain-raiser for the closing ceremony of the 36th National Games and Khel Mahakumbh in Ahmedabad on 4 September.
“These days, some people have made a new beginning to give backdoor entry into Gujarat politics to Medha Patkar, who opposed the Narmada project. I want to ask the youth of Gujarat whether they will allow those opposing the Narmada project as well as Gujarat’s development to enter the state,” Shah said without naming AAP.
comparison of prime minister BhagirathA mythological character, who is credited with bringing Ganga to earth, Shah Told: “It all happened because Modi” Yes Took water from Narmada till Khavda of Kutch. Modi was Yes did not come to gujarat Bhagirath And if the water of Narmada is not taken to Kutch, this development would not have been possible.
During that visit to Gujarat, Shah also hit out at AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal while inaugurating a school in Ahmedabad.
“There are two types of people. One who sweats for five years in Kutch and then contests through political parties and another, who buys new clothes just five months before the election and starts promising votes. But the people of Gujarat are different. Know these types of people well.
AAP vs BJP in Gujarat
With the Congress slowly losing its background in Gujarat, AAP’s growing popularity in the state’s Saurashtra region has irked the ruling BJP.
It is clear from the performance of the party in Gujarat that the party has gained some ground in Gujarat. municipal elections Last year when it got 28 per cent votes in Surat, 21 per cent in Gandhinagar and 17 per cent in Rajkot.
AAP’s Gujarat in-charge Sandeep Pathak claimed in April that a survey conducted by state intelligence agencies at the behest of the BJP government showed that AAP was winning. 55 out of 182 assembly seats in Gujarat If elections were held at that time.
This week, Kejriwal claimed that AAP was winning seven out of 12 assembly seats in Surat.
Elections in Gujarat are barely a few months away, so AAP chief has conducted many elections election promises during his visit to the state. Apart from 300 units of free electricity, a job for every youth and a monthly allowance of Rs 3,000 till the unemployed get a job, Kejriwal has also announced that women will get Rs 1,000 every month if AAP comes to power.
The AAP is also following the BJP’s strategy by announcing a ‘missed call’ campaign, which allows anyone dialing the number to be registered as a party member. Party leaders are also trying to boost the confidence of voters by repeatedly claiming that the AAP is on its way to winning the elections – another pre-poll strategy to which the BJP is no stranger.
Besides this, the Kejriwal-led party conducted tricolor yatras across Gujarat on the occasion of 75th Independence Day last month.
Meanwhile, Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, who is facing a CBI probe in connection with the AAP government’s excise policy, has been attacking the BJP government in Gujarat – which is a ‘dry state’ – over alcohol-related deaths. . Kejriwal had gone to Bhavnagar in July and met those who had lost family members due to illicit liquor and demanded compensation for them.
AAP MPs had also raised this issue during the monsoon session of Parliament.
Gujarat BJP President CR Patil had targeted Kejriwal told the supporters During an inauguration ceremony in Surat last month that “a person visiting the state nowadays” is making election promises like “Chinese products”.
(Edited by Amritansh Arora)
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