Election 2022 Updates: PM Modi, Kejriwal to Address Rallies in Surat in Last Leg of Gujarat 1st Phase Poll Campaign

AAP’s Gujarat election in-charge Raghav Chadha on Saturday said the people of Gujarat are “yearning for a change” and the only force which has become synonymous with “parivartan” in the state is Aam Aadmi Party. The senior party leader affirmed that the party is confident about winning the upcoming Assembly elections in Gujarat.

He said the AAP has emerged as a “formidable challenger” to the BJP and that the Congress is nowhere in the race. “There is only one force which has become synonymous with ‘Parivartan’ and that is Aam Aadmi Party. In order to get rid of the 27-year-old corrupt arrogant regime, people have been looking for an alternative,” Chadha told PTI in an interview.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal will be speaking at campaign rallies on Sunday in Gujarat’s ‘diamond city’ Surat which sends 12 MLAs to the state’s 182-member Assembly.

Modi will address a public meeting at Mota Varachha in Surat after a 25-km road-show from the airport to the rally venue. He is also scheduled to address three rallies at Netrang in Bharuch and in Kheda district.

Kejriwal will be on a two-day tour of BJP’s stronghold Surat. There, he will hold townhall meetings with textile industry leaders as well as gem artisans, and address a public meeting at Yogi Chowk. The Delhi chief minister will also hold a roadshow in Katargam.

All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi has hit out at Union Home Minister Amit Shah over his “BJP taught perpetrators of violence a lesson in 2002″ remark, saying nobody stays in power forever.Owaisi also accused Shah of being intoxicated with power.

Addressing an election rally in Gujarat on Friday, Shah had said that anti-social elements stopped indulging in violence after they were “taught a lesson” in 2002 and that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) established “permanent peace” in the state. Parts of Gujarat had witnessed large-scale violence in 2002 following the train burning incident at Godhra railway station in February that year. READ MORE

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asserted on Saturday that his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will record a “historic victory” in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly polls and become a “national” political party. Congratulating the party workers on the 10th anniversary of the AAP’s foundation day, Kejriwal said the party has created “many histories” in Indian politics since it came into existence on November 26, 2012 and become “a new hope” for the people of the country.

“The Aam Aadmi Party was formed 10 years ago on this day. In these 10 years, the party created many histories in Indian politics with the immense love of the public and the hard work of the workers,” Kejriwal, the national convenor of the party, said in a series of tweets.

“With a focus on infrastructure in Gujarat, the state will become USD 1 trillion economy in the coming days and also help India’s economy grow,” said Union minister and BJP leader Piyush Goyal addressing a press meet in Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said terror attacks were rampant when Congress was in power and terrorists from Pakistan used to kill Indian soldiers but the then ruling party never condemned them due to “vote bank” politics.

Paying tributes to the victims of the November 26, 2008 (26/11) Mumbai terror attack, Shah said it is impossible to carry out such an attack under the watch of the Narendra Modi government. READ MORE

At least 18% of Aam Aadmi Party candidates contesting the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections, 2022 are facing criminal cases, the highest among major political parties, while the ruling BJP has the most crorepatis, a new report from the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has said.

The ADR and Delhi Election Watch have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 1,336 candidates out of 1,349 who are contesting the MCD polls to be held on December 4. A total of 13 candidates were not analysed as their affidavits were either badly scanned or were not uploaded on the State Election Commission Delhi website. READ MORE

The BJP on Saturday claimed that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was suffering from “political cataract” and giving himself a certificate of honesty despite the alleged excise and classroom construction scams in his government. The entire country now knows that Kejriwal is a “kattar beiman” (hardcore dishonest), BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia told a press conference here.

With his deputy Manish Sisodia’s name not finding a mention in the CBI charge sheet in the excise policy case, Kejriwal on Saturday said he and the AAP are “hardcore honest”. Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal also asked the BJP if it could say the same about any of its leaders.

“Kejriwal is suffering from political cataract. The classroom scam or the excise scam or Satyendar Jain retaining his ministerial post despite being in jail is no big deal,” Bhatia said.

With the BJP building its campaign around Prime Minister Narendra Modi, AAP’s chief ministerial candidate Isudan Gadhvi on Saturday said this shows how people of Gujarat are fed-up with the ruling party’s state leaders and claimed his party is on course to end its uninterrupted reign of nearly 25 years. In an interview with PTI, the journalist-turned-politician asserted that the people of Gujarat will vote for a credible leader as their next chief minister in the assembly polls in which, he noted, Modi will not be a factor in their mind.

“Modi is prime minister and he will remain in power at the Centre till 2024. The assembly polls are for electing the state government. People of Gujarat are fed up with state leaders of the BJP and the Congress. There is no mass leader among them while I am drawing support in every part of the state,” he said. While some poll watchers believe that 40-year-old Gadhvi, once a popular Gujarati news anchor, has been caught in a tough fight in Khambhalia and social equations are also not very favourable to him, he said the AAP’s poll entry has meant that conventional calculations will not work in either his constituency or in Gujarat.

A Uniform Civil Code and anti-radicalisation cell for Gujarat plus a liberal dose of Hindutva, a mega development-cum-welfare plan promise by the BJP; doles like Old Pension Scheme, free power and unemployment allowance from the Congress; and add-on incentives from the Aam Aadmi Party like an allowance for all women — the Gujarati voter has been spoilt for choice these elections. READ MORE

Police and surveillance teams deployed by the Election Commission have so far seized cash and jewellery worth Rs 10.49 crore, while more than 91,000 persons have been placed under preventive detention in the run-up to the Assembly polls in Gujarat, an official has said. The model code of conduct has been in force since November 3 in the state where elections will be held in two phases – on December 1 and 5.

• BJP on Saturday released its manifesto for next month’s Gujarat Assembly elections, in which it promised to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state if the party retained power.
• The party also promised free education to girls from KG to PG (kindergarten to post-graduation)
• BJP also assured that the amount of medical insurance coverage under the Ayushman Bharat scheme would be doubled from Rs five lakh to Rs 10 lakh

• “The BJP government has worked towards whatever we have promised over the years”
• “BJP’s schemes ensure human dignity had women’s rights are protected”
• “Under the Chief Minister’s Free Diagnostic Scheme, all types of diagnosis free in the economically weaker sections”

Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel, BJP national president JP Nadda and state party president CR Paatil release BJP’s manifesto for Gujarat Assembly polls. BJP promises to create 20 Lakh jobs, revamp government schools and make Gujarat a trillion dollar economy.