Isudan Gadhvi, Gopal Italia or…. Who shall be AAP’s chief ministerial candidate?
Isudan Gadhvi, Gopal Italia or…. Who shall be AAP’s chief ministerial candidate?
The Gujarat Assembly election poll dates are out; the Election Commission (EC) announced on Thursday that the state will go to polls in two phases — 1 December and 5 December — with the results being announced on 8 December.
Shortly after the EC made its announcement, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said that it would be declaring its chief ministerial candidate for the elections on Friday.
આવતીકાલે આમ આદમી પાર્ટી દ્વારા પબ્લિક ઓપીનિયન થકી આગામી વિધાનસભા ચૂંટણીને લઈ સીએમ કેન્ડીડેટ જાહેર કરવામાં આવશે. – @manoj_sorathiya pic.twitter.com/DXlLlAk6ei
— AAP Gujarat | Mission2022 (@AAPGujarat) November 3, 2022
The Friday pronouncement will come after the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP launched a campaign to choose the party’s chief ministerial face — as they had done in Punjab in which Bhagwant Mann emerged the top choice.
Kejriwal had earlier asked the public of Gujarat to contact them through SMS, Whatsapp, voice mail, and e-mail to give their views about who should be the chief ministerial candidate from the party. People of Gujarat can express their choice to the AAP until 5 pm today.
But, who’s in the running? Let’s find out.
Isudan Gadhvi
The current national joint general secretary of Aam Aadmi Party, Isudan Gadhvi has emerged as one of the contenders in the AAP’s chief ministerial candidate race in Gujarat. Before joining the AAP — he entered politics on 14 June 2021— he was a former TV journalist.
During his days as a journalist, he worked in a popular Doordarshan show called Yojana and later went on to being the man who exposed a Rs 150 crore scam of illegal deforestation in Dang and Kaparada talukas of Gujarat on his news show.
In 2015 when he joined VTV Gujarati, his show ‘Mahamanthan’ would run from 8-9 pm and ratings of the show remained high, displaying his popularity among the people.
Gadhvi, who describes himself as Nayak — promising hope and justice for people — told News18, “My show had lakhs of viewers. People gave a lot of love and when the show shifted outdoors from the studio, hundreds of people would gather. Farmers, particularly, saw a messiah in me.”
At the peak of his journalistic career, he quit his job and it was then that Gopal Italia — the other candidate in the running for the CM’s chair — convinced Gadhvi to join the AAP.
Hoping that his party wins the upcoming Assembly polls, Gadhvi is criss-crossing through the state; he claims he has travelled over 1,00,000 kilometres, campaigning for the AAP.
In January, Gadhvi had been arrested for alleged drinking of liquor, reported the Times of India. The report stated that while the FIR showed that the AAP leader had 0.0545 per cent (weight by volume) alcohol presence in his blood, Gadhvi denied the claims, saying that forensic report may have been fudged at the instance of the BJP and that he was ready to undergo a lie-detector test to prove that he was a teetotaller.
Gopal Italia
Another AAP leader who could be the party’s chief ministerial face is young Patidar Gopal Italia.
The 33-year-old Italia, born in Botad, is the fourth of five siblings and was raised by a single parent. A graduate in political science and law, he has worked from a constable to a contractual revenue clerk, before making a foray into politics.
Italia’s journey in politics began with the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), launched by Hardik Patel (who is now in the BJP) in 2015, to spearhead the protests seeking a quota for Patidars. It was during this time that Arvind Kejriwal had “spotted talent in Italia”, a senior Delhi-based AAP leader was quoted as telling The Print.
Italia shot to fame in 2017 when he, as a government employee, dialled then Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel to register his reservations about the state’s prohibition law.
A recording of the conversation went viral and Italia was booked on charges of impersonation for identifying himself as an “LRD (Lokrakshak Dal) jawan” on the call despite having quit the police force in 2014.
Later that year, Italia made headlines for hurling a shoe at then Gujarat minister Pradipsinh Jadeja outside the Legislative Assembly, alleging rampant corruption in the state. After the incident, he was dismissed from the revenue department for violating service rules.
In 2020, he joined the AAP and rose through the ranks to become state president. He has been the face of the party in Gujarat for two years now.
Having a huge social media following and supporters on the ground, it was Italia’s hardwork that earned AAP 27 seats in the Surat municipal polls last year.
In October, Italia faced a storm of criticism when earlier videos of him making derogatory comments about Prime Minister Narendra Modi emerged on social media. In one video, he criticises Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “neech” politics and uses a cuss word for his government, and in another he tells women that “temples and kathas (religious discourses) are breeding grounds of exploitation” where they would gain nothing, and advises mothers and daughters to avoid going to temples if they want development and to gain respect.
Italia is also set to contest polls, likely from a constituency in Surat. Responding to the possibility of Gadhvi being chosen the CM face, Italia told News18: “That will be more beautiful. He is a straight and honest person. Does anyone leave his career at its peak and choose a life of uncertainty in politics? Apart from his sacrifice, he has worked really hard for the party.”
Manoj Sorathiya
While the focus for AAP’s chief ministerial candidate is on Gopal Italia and Isudan Gadhvi, some consider Manoj Sorathiya, 39, general secretary of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) state unit, a likely candidate.
Originally from Moda village under Mahuva taluka of Bhavnagar district, Sorathiya pursued a B.Pharm degree, but began working in a textile unit, and later launched his own textile weaving unit in Surat, which he continues to run.
His association with Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party dates back to the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement days.
He has been quoted as telling Indian Express that traditionally his family was BJP voters. But all of them shifted their allegiance to AAP, because of its agenda of providing education, health and basic facilities for the poor.
It is under Sorathiya’s supervision that the AAP has expanded in the state. Today, the party has 5.50 lakh organisational members and a total membership of 20 lakh in Gujarat.
With inputs from agencies
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