BJP though has been denying the presence of AAP in the field, their Gujarat election campaigns are centred on pulling Kejriwal’s strings.
As the post-Godhra pogrom of 2002 loomed large on the campaigns for the upcoming Gujarat assembly elections with Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement that the rioters were taught a ‘lesson’, Aam Admi Party (AAP) accused BJP of being a party of ‘hooliganism’.
Responding to the jibe of UP CM Yogi Adityanath, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in a tweet said while BJP stands for dirty politics, abuses and hooliganism, AAP stands for development. Sharing a video of Adityanath’s speech in Gujarat where he termed the AAP supreme as “sympathiser of terrorism”, Kejriwal wrote, “If you want dirty abuses, hooliganism, corruption, or dirty politics, then vote for them. If you want schools, hospitals, electricity, water, roads, then vote for me.”
He shared a tweet of Adityanath who along with his speech noted, “This specimen from the Aam Aadmi Party who has come from Delhi is actually a sympathiser of terrorism.” In his address Adityanath said that the Delhi CM “opposed the construction of Ram Temple, and even sought proof for the Indian Army's surgical strike in Pakistan.”
Notably, Kejriwal in Delhi has floated a policy of free visit to Ram Mandir for senior citizens and promised to replicate it in Gujarat if they come to power. AAP that had got huge boost after its victory in Punjab last year is eying on Gujarat polls pushing the former journalist Isudan Gadhvi as its Chief Ministerial candidate.
Gandhvi earlier in his campaign said that AAP has forced PM Narendra Modi to enter schools referring to the latter’s photo where he was found sitting with the school students in a classroom. The AAP chief ministerial candidate though tried to push that they were setting the narratives, Kejriwal’s continuous flexing of his Hindu credentials to appeal to the Hindu vote banck have been a matter of contention.
The recent turn in the campaign through Amit Shah’s reference to the post-Godhra pogrom also further changed the track. The Congress on the other hand has been in denial mood and said that AAP is not a factor at all in the elections. BJP also is on the same board with their rivals in this regard but still pulling AAP most of the time during their high key campaigns.
The BJP which has been ruling the state for last 27 years among which Modi himself ruled for 13 years is facing stiff challenge from AAP. Gujarat is going to polls on December 1 and 5 and the results will be out on December 8.