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On Wednesday, when AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal cancelled his July 9-10 visit to Gujarat since the organisation that had invited him cancelled the event, there was a feeling of déjà vu.
In March 2014, he had landed at the Ahmedabad airport amid suspense, followed by high drama, and challenged then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi’s claims of development in the State. He had then shot off a 16-point memorandum to Modi even as Gujarat police prevented his entry into Gandhinagar.
Of late, a fragmented AAP, which has remained largely passive in Gujarat, has been trying to revive itself by supporting Hardik Patel, who headed last year’s Patidar agitation and is now incarcerated in a Surat jail on sedition charges.
The AAP had recently announced plans to contest all 182 Assembly seats in Gujarat, which goes to polls in 2017. To kickstart the campaign, Kejriwal was scheduled to visit the State next week.
He planned to visit the Somnath temple, address the All Gujarat Traders’ Meeting in Surat, and meet Hardik in a bid to woo the influential Patidar community.
Gulab Singh Yadav, AAP MLA in Delhi and party in-charge for Gujarat, on Wednesday claimed that the BJP was “scared” of Kejriwal and had threatened the organisers, Vividh Vepari Mahamandal, Surat, with “consequences” if they went ahead with the July 10 event.
Former BJP MLA and now AAP leader Kanubhai Kalsaria said the officials got the venue booking cancelled and forced the traders’ body to withdraw the invitation to Kejriwal.
AAP also released sting video and audio clips in a bid to show a university official and a trader claiming that the venue’s booking was cancelled due to “pressure from Gandhinagar”.
Blame game
On the other hand, the BJP circulated a letter purportedly penned by the traders’ body, stating that it called off the event “willingly.”
State BJP chief Vijay Rupani dubbed it an ‘AAP drama’.
In 2014, AAP had contested 23 of 26 Lok Sabha seats and lost security deposit in all of these. In the 2013 Assembly polls also, it had failed to win any of the seven seats it contested.
Whether or not AAP will manage to capture some seats next year has to be seen.
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