AAP to contest in all 182 seats in Gujarat; Arvind Kejriwal promises free electricity

Kicking off an extremely early campaign for the Gujarat polls in 2020, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal visited Ahmedabad on Monday, declaring that AAP will contest on all 182 seats. Addressing a press conference in Ahmedabad, Kejriwal promised free electricity, better medical and health infrastructure to the people of Gujarat. He also welcomed veteran journalist Isudhan Gadhvi into AAP. Currently, BJP has an ironclad majority of 112 MLAs and has been ruled the state for 27 years.

Kejriwal: "AAP will contest on all seats in Gujarat"

"Gujarat has always contributed to politics. Even during independence, we saw leaders like Sardar Patel emerge. But since then, we see only BJP and Congress fighting with each other and for past 27 years, there is only one party in Gujarat. People of Gujarat did not have an option till now. Now, they do. We will contest in all seats in Gujarat," said Kejriwal.

He added, "People are scared today. Education and Healthcare are in shambles. If electricity can be free in Delhi, why can't it be in Gujarat? Now it will be. Farmers of Gujarat are committing suicide, people of Gujarat are upset, traders are scared. Some time ago Gujarat Chambers invited me but the government forced the chambers to cancel my program." Moreover, the Delhi CM accused the Centre of ignoring PM Modi's home state Gujarat during COVID, contradicting his own statement alleging partiality towards Gujarat in oxygen distribution.

BJP retains power, AAP breaks through

BJP's dominance in Gujarat politics continued In February as it retained power in the Municipal Corporations of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar. Despite being in power for over 25 years in the state, BJP vastly improved its performance by winning 483 out of the total 576 seats across the 6 civic bodies as compared to the previous election where it bagged 389 seats. On the other hand, Congress was reduced to a paltry 55 seats from the 176 wins they had secured last time.

Meanwhile, AAP made an impressive debut in Gujarat by winning 27 seats in the Surat Municipal Corporation whereas Congress was wiped out there. In Ahmedabad, AIMIM won 7 out of 21 seats which it contested. It is pertinent to note that 52.83 lakh out of the 1.14 crore voters had cast their votes on February 21, implying an average turnout of 46.08%. Ahmedabad recorded the lowest turnout of 42.51%, while Jamnagar saw the highest turnout of 53.38%, followed by 50.72% in Rajkot, 49.46% in Bhavnagar, 47.84% in Vadodara and 47.14% in Surat.