Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, April 2: Upbeat over its maiden but massive success in Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party is now eying Gujarat for an electoral success in the state Assembly elections due later this year. The party supremo and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann, the first AAP chief minister outside Delhi, on Saturday began a two-day visit to Gujarat, the home turf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, to launch its election campaign in the state being ruled by the BJP uninterrupted for the last 25 years with its only political rival Congress lying in total shambles.
Kejriwal and Mann began the Gujarat trip with a visit to the Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad and later participated in a roadshow that AAP has named the Tiranga Yatra. In the Ashram, they were seen spinning the charkha at the ‘Hriday Kunj’, which used to be the residential quarters of Mahatma Gandhi and his wife Kasturba Gandhi when they were staying in the Ashram before “Bapu” launched the Salt Satyagraha that turned out to be a decisive milestone in India’s struggle for freedom. The leaders also visited the museum inside the Ashram.
Addressing the roadshow, Kejriwal said the BJP has been in power in Gujarat for 25 years but could not end corruption. “I am not here to criticise any party. I have not come here to defeat the BJP. I have not come to defeat the Congress. I have come to make Gujarat win. We have to make Gujarat and Gujaratis victorious. We have to end corruption in Gujarat,” he said.
“After 25 years, they (BJP) are now arrogant. They don’t listen to the people anymore. Give one chance to Aam Aadmi Party, like the people of Punjab did, the people of Delhi did. Give one chance to Aam Aadmi Party, if you don’t like us, change us the next time. Give one chance to Aam Aadmi Party, you will forget all parties,” he said.
“I don’t know how to do politics but I do know how to end corruption. We have finished corruption in Delhi. Today if you go to any office in Delhi, you don’t have to pay a bribe. Similarly, Bhagwant Mann ended corruption in Punjab in mere 10 days of his governance. If you don’t believe me, ask any of your friends in Punjab. Today, all work gets done in Punjab be it license office, tehsildar office, within 10 minutes. In Delhi and Punjab, if anyone asks for a bribe, people say ‘Kejriwal aa jayega (Kejriwal will come)’ and ‘Bhagwant Mann aa jayega (Bhagwant Mann will come)’. And what happens in Gujarat?” said Kejriwal.
Reminding the people of Gujarat that Delhi and Punjab voters have sorted out their problems and now it would be the turn of Gujarat, Mann said, “Today all of you have come with tricolour flags so it is clear that you all are patriots. If there is anyone anti-national then it is those who are trying to divide the patriots.”
Addressing the media after the tour of the Ashram, Kejriwal said, “I feel gratitude to be born in the same country as Gandhiji. This is my first visit since I became Delhi Chief Minister. But I used to come here as an activist as well.”
Mann said, “I come from a land of freedom fighters-Punjab. I got to see a lot here. Gandhi Ji’s letters and the various movements he spearheaded. Charkha is part of every other household in Punjab. My mother and grandmother also use it. I have seen the Charkha being used since my childhood. We are nationalist people and we love the nation. This is my first visit to Gujarat since I became Punjab CM.”