After a fabulous win in Punjab, the AAP has bared its pan-India ambition more prominently. AAP went full throttle in Goa and now seems to leave no stone unturned in the preparation for the upcoming Gujarat assembly elections.
Having Saurashtra and Kutch in focus, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal has spent his longest stint of five days in the state. Kejriwal held over 11 roadshows in the five days he spent in the region.
AAP is concentrating on rural Saurashtra along with Surat where Patidars hold sway. Their hopes in Surat are buoyed by the last year’s civic body polls results where AAP did exceedingly well.
AAP is pitching schools, hospitals, electricity, and employment as their election plank. Kejriwal started off his campaign with the announcement of Isudan Gadhvi as AAP’s chief ministerial candidate.
The situation is different this time from 2017 when Congress found itself ahead of the BJP in the 54 Assembly constituencies and won 30 seats to the BJP’s 23 thanks to palpable farm distress and Patidar anger. Though Patidars have largely been a lot supportive of the BJP, AAP has been able to gather some amount of Patidar support.
Kejriwal’s five-day tour included rallies in almost every constituency. In the fishermen-dominated constituencies, he listed his party’s “guarantees” such as a 25% subsidy on diesel, loans to fishermen without any interest, MSP on fish, houses, and help for families of those who die in accidents.
Kejriwal accused the BJP of shielding the company that carried out the renovation work at the Morbi bridge which collapsed, taking 135 lives. He held rallies at Wankaner, Jetpur and Jamnagar reiterating his promises of free electricity and good schools.
AAP had a setback in the form of Indranil Rajyaguru leaving the party when Kejriwal was in the state. A former MLA from Rajkot, and an important Congress leader had switched to AAP just a few months back. Rajyaguru came back to Congress within hours of AAP announcing Isudan Gadhvi as their Chief Ministerial face.
Also Read: Ab Tak Chhappan: 56 Cong Leaders In Guj In BJP Fold Over 15 Years
