Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP has bigger ambitions on a national scale and Gujarat is an important step in that direction, is not a state secret. Even before their resounding success in Punjab, the AAP’s strategists had Gujarat in mind with, of course, Goa.
Vying for the political space in the absence of any active political force to claim the benefits of anti-incumbency of BJP rule for more than a quarter of a century, AAP has been meticulously planning the public engagement of it’s top brass in Gujarat.
On his second visit to poll-bound Gujarat this month, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP Supremo Arvind Kejriwal will hold a town hall meeting and a press conference in Surat. Kejriwal held a town hall on the issue of free electricity in Ahmedabad during his visit to the state on July 3.
Making clear His party’s intention to take the political challenge head-on, Kejriwal said after landing at Surat airport on Wednesday night: “The people of Gujarat are fed up with 27 years of the BJP rule and want a change”
AAP surprised everyone last year when it tested its first major electoral success in Gujarat by emerging as the principal opposition party in the 120-member Surat Municipal Corporation winning 27 seats behind BJP’s 93. Congress drew blank.
Though it did not win any single seat in the 2019 assembly elections after fielding 29 candidates in Gujarat where the BJP won 99 of the 182 assembly seats, AAP became from a non-entity to a recognisable force in Gujarat.
Having gained a huge following among the influential Patidar community in Gujarat, the AAP is believed to have an edge in three of the 16 assembly seats in Surat district and expects an advantage in at least half the assembly seats. AAP will be fielding candidates in all the 182 seats this year, it is said.
Also Read: Stung By “Revadi Culture” Remark, AAP Stages Protests In Gujarat
Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Gujarat unit is not taking the AAP challenge lightly, prompting even PM Narendra Modi to make an oblique remark about “revadi culture” with reference to AAP’s major poll prank free electricity in Gujarat.
AAP on the other hand is going gung-ho on BJP leadership even going to the extent of attributing the overnight change of Gujarat chief minister in September 2021 to the rising AAP phenomenon.
Also Read: Gujarat: AAP Supremo To Launch ‘Kejriwal Ki Guarantee’ In Surat
