The party’s state convener Gopal Italia is a former government employee. He quit the job for justice to the thousands of youths serving in the Lok Rakshak Dal and aspiring candidates. Even before he joined politics his actions had made him a newsmaker. For example, he had hurled a slipper at Minister of State for Home Pradipsinh Jadeja, raising the issue of corruption. His telephonic conversation with Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel over poor implementation of the prohibition policy had become the talk of the state three years ago.
Italia comes from a humble background, but his thoughts are more of rebellion and revolutionary. He represents the Patidar community, but is not as influential as Hardik Patel. The Patidars dominate on 52 assembly seats.
The other big face of the AAP in Gujarat is Isudan Gadhvi, a journalist-turned-politician, who has served as editor of one of the leading regional news channels. Having ambitions of becoming a politician, he joined the AAP. Sources in the AAP say he was selected by the party’s national leaders because they were looking for a public face, his prime time programme was garnering good TRPs and he had a good number of followers on social media pages.
The Gadhvi community has a negligible presence in the state’s vote share, and dominates merely on one or two assembly seats.
Yuvrajsinh Jadeja, a student and youth leader, came into the limelight when he led the LRD aspiring candidates movement. He exposed the competitive exams loopholes, on four to five occasions he shared details about how papers leaked in exams, because of which the government had to cancel the exams.
He has a huge fan following on social media and belongs to the Kshatriya Rajput community, which dominates on at least half a dozen seats with just 6 percent representation in the vote share. Jadeja has followers cutting across castes and among the youth.
The AAP’s other faces are Pravin Ram, a M. Tech graduate who had first led an agitation in Junagadh district against the corrupt practices in cooperative societies and is president of the Jan Adhikar Manch. Later he led the aspiring government candidates movement on the reservation issue.
Sagar Rabari is the farmers movement’s face, he had fought for MSP for crops, for crop insurance. He had moved a petition in the Gujarat High Court, and he was one of the leaders of the agitation against Becharaji Chemical Special Investment Region.
Though all of them have clean backgrounds, they lack influence among all castes and creeds across the state. That is why the AAP wants to encash the party’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal’s popularity, and the Delhi model of governance. Its campaign slogan is ‘One chance to Kejriwal’.
This was challenged by Congress spokesman Pawan Khera during his recent visit to Gujarat. He has demanded that Arvind Kejriwal should announce from which assembly seat he is going to contest in Gujarat, and if he is not contesting, why is he appealing to vote for him.
–IANS