Coming down heavily on her own party over her “kidnapping” claims, Surat (East) AAP candidate Kanchan Jariwala on Wednesday released a video statement in which she reportedly said she withdrew her nomination “without any pressure”. And later listened to his inner voice. The voters in his constituency called him a “traitor” and “anti-Gujarat” for contesting the Gujarat Assembly elections from the Aam Aadmi Party.
Jariwala was purportedly heard saying in the video, “During my campaign people used to ask me why I became the candidate of an anti-national and anti-Gujarat party. I listened to my inner voice. I withdrew my nomination without any pressure. I cannot support such a party.”
Earlier in the day, AAP leader and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia alleged that Jariwala was abducted at the behest of the BJP, which feared losing the seat in the Gujarat elections. He claimed that his party’s Surat candidate has gone missing along with his family members since Tuesday, adding that he was last seen Election Commission’s office in Surat for scrutiny of their nomination papers.
Sisodia alleged that when Jariwala went to the Returning Officer’s office, he was forced to withdraw his nomination.
“In this election, BJP is losing badly in Gujarat and has become so irritable that it has stooped to the level of kidnapping our candidate from Surat East. Fearing defeat, BJP goons have abducted AAP candidate Kanchan Jariwala from Surat, Sisodia told reporters in Delhi.
Sisodia alleged that BJP “goons” also tried to cancel Jariwala’s nomination, but the returning officer could not do so as there was no lacuna in his papers.
Apart from this, Sisodia appealed to the Election Commission India (ECI) to take cognizance of the incident and “deploy all machinery to trace and bring back the candidate of our party and his family members”.
Reacting to this, the election body asked the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Gujarat to probe the allegations and take action “as warranted”.
A four-member delegation led by Sisodia met the officials of the Commission this evening and submitted a representation. “His representation was received about the candidate from Surat East reportedly withdrawing his candidature and being taken to an undisclosed location. ECI said representation has been sent to CEO Gujarat for inquiry and action as per warrant.
(With inputs from PTI)
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