All is not well between Vipul Chaudhary, who is in jail on graft charges, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), it seems. AAP founder and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was scheduled to address a gathering organised by the Chaudhary community’s Arbuda Sena at Charada village in Gandhinagar district, but he has backed out at the last minute.
Chaudhary, the former minister in the BJP government who is a prominent co-operative leader, is in jail in connection with the alleged Rs 800 crore corruption charges during his tenure as Dudhsagar Dairy chairman.
Rumours were rife that Chaudhary will join AAP and will also contest the Assembly election. The AAP has fielded Gopal Italia from Surat and its CM candidate Isudan Gadhvi from Saurashtra, but the party is lacking a prominent face in north Gujarat.
Sources said that Kejriwal was worried about the negative optics for the party by siding with Chaudhary, as AAP’s campaign is based on anti-corruption plank.
The Chaudhary community has declared that it will throw its weight behind whichever party Vipul Chaudhary chooses.
Around 2 lakh Chaudhary community members assembled at Charada village in Gandhinagar to pledge support to Vipul Chaudhary in a show of strength.
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