On October 2, Delhi Chief Minister and national convenor of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Arvind Kejriwal claimed in a press conference that AAP would form government in Gujarat. He cited an ‘Intelligence Bureau’ report to make the claim. He further claimed that his party would win the elections by a small margin if the elections were held ‘today’. He urged the people of Gujarat to give a ‘big push’ so that AAP gets a ‘comfortable majority in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections.
IB Report से बड़ा खुलासा!
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) October 2, 2022
आज Gujarat में चुनाव हो तो AAP की सरकार बन रही है:Sources
रिपोर्ट से बुरी तरह बौखलाई BJP, Congress के साथ Secret Meetings कर रही है
भाजपा का प्रयास-कांग्रेस को मज़बूत कर Anti-BJP Vote बांटो
कांग्रेस की ज़िम्मेदारी-AAP के वोट काटो
-CM @ArvindKejriwal pic.twitter.com/e1j35pQAxI
The Delhi CM also claimed that BJP is strengthening Congress to split anti-BJP votes, and the job of the Congress party is to cut AAP votes in the state. Kejriwal didn’t say where he found this so-called ‘IB report’ on Gujarat elections.
It is noteworthy that the claim came just a day after AAP’s MLA Naresh Balyan shared a news report from 2017 that Bharatiya Janata Party would lose the election in Gujarat. Furthermore, AAP has a habit of making such claims during elections. They made tall claims in Uttarakhand, UP, Goa and several other states and Lok Sabha elections but failed to mark any notable presence in most of the elections.
During the press conference, Arvind Kejriwal said, “According to sources, an IB report has come. It is written in the report that if elections are held today, then the Aam Aadmi Party will form the government in Gujarat.” He further added, “Although it is written in the report that right now it is with a thin margin. (We) are ahead with very few seats. The people of Gujarat will have to give a big push so that the (AAP) government is formed with a comfortable majority.”
Kejriwal also claimed that BJP and Congress had joined hands in secret since the IB report came. He said, “BJP, especially, is freaking out over the report. Congress has been given the responsibility to garner as many votes for AAP as possible. I want to tell the people of Gujarat – be cautious.”
2017 report shared by AAP leader claiming BJP would lose
On October 1, AAP leader Naresh Balyan shared a Dainik Bhaskar report and claimed BJP has been trying different methods to break AAP voters in the state as the party now ‘sees their defeat in the election’. Interestingly, the report was published in 2017 before the Gujarat elections, where BJP comfortably won and formed government.
The tweet by retweeted by Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia.
Other AAP leaders including AAP Delhi Spokesperson Ghanendra Bhardwaj, AAP MLA Somnath Bharti, AAP Women Wing’s joint secretary Capt Shalini Singh and AAP National SM Team in charge Siddarth followed the suit.
Even though Balyan was corrected by several Twitter users, he decided to let the post remain as it was in sync with AAP’s propaganda.
