Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday announced Isudan Gadhvi, the party’s National Joint General Secretary as its chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections.
Gadhvi is also a member of AAP’s National Executive. The party made this announcement following a crowdsourcing campaign under which the people of the state could give their opinion on a number and an email id shared by the party until 5 pm, 3 November.
Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal had launched the campaign on 29 October asking people whom they wanted as their chief ministerial candidate.
Announcing this AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, Gadhvi has been chosen by 73 percent of the people. The Delhi CM said that 16,48,500 people had declared their state, of which 73% took the name of Isudan Gadhvi. Journalist-turned-politician Gadhvi and Patidar leader Gopal Italia were considered to be the frontrunners in the CM contender race.
Arvind Kejriwal expressed his confidence in Aam Aadmi Party to form the government in Gujarat and said that he is announcing the name of the next CM of Gujarat, not the CM candidate of Gujarat. Kejriwal said, “Aam Aadmi Party is a new engine, it has brought new hope. New hopes, new faces, we don’t sit in the room and decide who will be the CM. The same was done in Punjab. Bhagwant Mann was not chosen by Kejriwal, but by the people of Punjab.”
Born on 10 January 1982 in a village of Jamnagar, Gadhvi is a journalist by profession. He has been a well-known face on TV in Gujarati journalism. Due to his unique style and demeanor, he made his own identity. Gadhvi, who became popular through prime time anchoring, has been the head of a Gujarati channel. In June 2021, he started a political career with the AAP, bidding goodbye to journalism.
After his name was announced, Gadhvi said that God has given him everything and now he wants to ease the suffering of Gujaratis. He told how he came into politics at the behest of Arvind Kejriwal.