Kejriwal launches AAP's 'choose your chief minister' campaign for Gujarat
The National Convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Arvind Kejriwal announced on Saturday the launch of a crowdsourcing initiative to select the party's chief ministerial candidate in the upcoming Gujarat elections. The party has made a number of pre-election promises, including free electricity, improved healthcare, and better education, and the current campaign is seen as their most recent effort.
Why does this story matter?
Gujarat Assembly elections are slated for the end of this year. Kejriwal has been leading the party election campaign in the state. As per analysts, the states could see a triangular contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, and AAP. Apart from the two arch-rivals parties, AAP is trying hard to cement performance in the state.
How to participate in the campaign?
AAP has issued a number 6357000360 to know the opinion of the public about the chief ministerial candidate. "On this number, people can SMS or send WhatsApp messages or send voice messages. They can also email aapnocm@gmail.com," Kejriwal announced. The number will be operational till 5:00 pm on November 3 and the results will be public the next day.
Kejriwal takes a jibe at Gujarat CM
Addressing a news conference, Kejriwal took a dig at Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel saying people want change. "They want relief from inflation, unemployment," he said. "These people (BJP) changed their Chief Minister one year ago. They first had Vijay Rupani. Why did they replace him with Bhupendra Patel? Does this mean that there was something wrong with Vijay Rupani?" he asked.
'In democracy people decide...'
"When Vijay Rupani was brought, the public was not asked. It was decided from Delhi. In a democracy, the people decide who will be the Chief Minister. Neither did you (BJP) ask in 2016, nor did you ask in 2021," Kejriwal stated.
Watch video of the press conference
AAP announced 86 candidates so far
The AAP released the seventh list of candidates for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections on Friday, bringing the total number of candidates in the race to 86. Following the announcement of the new candidates in Vadodara, the party's Gujarat unit chief Gopal Italia expressed confidence that the AAP would have enough MLAs to form the government in the state.
