Forty-year-old former news anchor and Aam Aadmi Party’s chief ministerial candidate in Gujarat, Isudan Gadhvi, on Monday filed his nomination from the Khambhaliya Assembly seat, his native, in Devbhumi Dwarka district.
As Gujarat prepares for a three-corner electoral battle, Gadhvi shares his party’s strategies, guaranteed promises, and how he plans to take on the ruling BJP and the onslaught of PM Narendra Modi’s blistering campaign in the coming days to retain his hold on Gujarat in a telephonic conversation with DH’s Satish Jha. Excerpts:
How do you see the forthcoming elections shaping up?
We are set to become an alternative to the BJP, which is not popular in Gujarat anymore. They don’t have any charismatic leadership left here, and that’s why the popularity graph of the Aam Aadmi Party is growing. People are impressed with our guaranteed promises and are joining us in large numbers. There are 52,000 polling booths in the state, and we have already formed 45,000 booth level committees to take the voters to the polling booths; 5,000 more are being formed. The BJP panna pramukhs are also working for us. We are reaching out to people seeking a chance while appealing to oust the BJP to bring down high inflation, corruption, among other issues that are plaguing Gujarat.
AAP has suffered several defections, including those who came from the BJP and Congress and left again at a time when elections are around the corner. Is it going to impact the outcome?
No BJP leader will be able to stay with another political party for long as either they will be booked in a criminal case or their old cases will surface. The BJP creates this fear. It is like Dawood Ibrahim’s gang, where once you enter, there is no exit. The BJP leader (Kesrisinh Solanki) who joined us and went back to the BJP was being hounded by his party for suspicion of cross-voting during the election of the President. He was also facing a gambling-related criminal charge. He was being threatened with incarceration. It is difficult to stay with AAP as it is a party where one has to struggle.
Why is AAP silent on issues pertaining to minorities, such as the remission of convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang rape, while it is wooing Hindu votes by making promises of free pilgrimage?
Let’s not create any unnecessary controversy. We are a party that treats everyone equally. A ruler should never discriminate against its people based on religion or anything else. Our schemes and promises are for every community. Contrary to popular perception, we have already fielded three Muslim candidates. This is a non-issue for us. Even as a journalist, I never did stories based on caste or religion. We are here to deal with issues such as creating jobs, controlling inflation, among others. So far, I have travelled 1.10 lakh km in Gujarat campaigning and seen the pain of commoners. Therefore, instead of creating controversy over religion, we would like to work or do our politics around work rather than play power politics.
How are you planning to tackle the might of the ruling BJP in addition to the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is the ruling party’s biggest mascot?
We are asking for one opportunity with promises of welfare schemes already in place in Delhi and being implemented in Punjab. The Gujarat chief minister has given us the Morbi Bridge collapse, the hooch tragedy, and the recruitment exam paper leaks. People are frustrated and want change. We have given lakhs of guarantee cards to people, promising them good health, schooling, and free electricity, among others. We are also telling people that Modi ji is a prime minister and not Gujarat chief minister. People do realise the difference. Consider the Delhi Assembly election, where the AAP won 67 seats, but the BJP won all seven Lok Sabha seats.
AAP is seen as a vote-cutter for Congress, which will ultimately help the BJP?
Congress is nowhere in the picture. They are not going to win more than 10 seats. The AAP, on the other hand, is forming the government with a comfortable majority.
Your journey from a news anchor to CM candidate has several elements that happen only in movies. How do you see it helping the party?
Even as a journalist, I raised issues that mattered to common people. It was the popularity of the show that I was compelled to increase its timing from one-hour to 90 minutes. I joined politics only to solve those issues that I could only raise as a journalist. I want to take action to solve those issues.