The election scenario in Gujarat saw a bizarre incident where AAP leaders including Arvind Kejriwal alleged that one of their candidates was kidnapped by the BJP, only for the candidate to surface to withdraw his nomination. Yesterday, AAP’s Surat (East) candidate Kanchan Jariwala was allegedly missing, and Kejriwal and others claimed that he has been ‘kidnapped’ by BJP. But today morning, Jariwala reached the election officer’s office amid police security to withdraw his nomination.
After AAP candidate Kanchan Jariwala arrived to withdraw his claim, there were revelations that you would be surprised to read. Kanchan Jariwala reached the election officer’s office amid police security to withdraw his nomination papers, and there was no sign that he was ‘kidnapped’. After withdrawing the nomination, he made shocking revelations alleging that he was facing a threat of life from his own party.
High voltage drama: Candidate from Surat (East), Kanchan Jariwala reached to withdraw the nomination form.
— Tv9 Gujarati (@tv9gujarati) November 16, 2022
AAP claims BJP pressure. #GujaratElections2022 #TV9News pic.twitter.com/C991XPe6pP
After withdrawing the nomination, Kanchan Jariwala issued a statement, saying that he stepped down from the race because his party is being perceived as anti-Gujarat by voters. ‘I have heard the voice of conscience and made up my mind not to contest elections from the anti-Gujarat party, and have withdrawn the nomination papers without any pressure,’ he wrote.
Jariwala said that during the campaigning, he was repeatedly told by the voters that he is anti-national and anti-Gujarat, for his association with AAP. They told him that they will not vote for AAP. ‘My conscience was shattered and I heard the voice of the conscience,’ Jariwala wrote about why he withdrew the nomination. He added that there was no pressure on him from anyone to withdraw the nomination, and he took the decision on his own.
After that, he then went on to make a shocking claim in an application made to Surat Police Commissioner, alleging that AAP and Congress workers are plotting to kill him. In the application, he wrote that he has willingly withdrawn his nomination from Surat East Assembly Constituency. And he fears that AAP workers and Congress candidate Aslam Cyclewala will kill him. He pleaded the police commissioner to provide him with police protection for himself and his family. He wrote that he was addressing a press conference at his residence, and sought police protection for that event also.
કંચન ઝરીવાલાનું નિવેદન આવ્યું સામે, જાણો કેમ પરત ખેચ્યું ઉમેદવારી ફોર્મ#AAPGujarat #GujaratElections2022 #electionwithgujarattak #KanchanJariwala pic.twitter.com/99QxiaXN5i
— Gujarat Tak (@GujaratTak) November 16, 2022
Later he released a video statement, where he repeated the claims made in his statement and the application to the police.
While talking to the media, Jariwala refuted the claims of his kidnapping made by his party leaders. He said that BJP has nothing to do with his ‘disappearance’, and he was not kidnapped by BJP or anyone else. When asked about why he arrived with so much police protection to withdraw the nomination, he said that he and his family face threats to his from his political opponents. He reiterated that BJP has no role in his decision to withdraw the nomination, and it was his own decision.
Different reality emerged in OpIndia’s research
While AAP had claimed that their candidate was kidnapped, now it has emerged that he himself had gone incommunicado before withdrawing his nomination. When OpIndia team started investigating from the ground level, our sources said that Kanchan Jariwala had switched off the phone since noon after filing his nomination yesterday. His family members and close supporters also switched off their phones and locked their own houses and went underground. And today, amidst rumours of kidnapping, he himself reached out to withdraw his candidature on his own.
Kanchan Jariwala was the victim of internal discord in the party
OpIndia sources also said that Kanchan Jariwala was a victim of internal dissension in the Aam Aadmi Party and opposition from his own workers. In Jariwala’s personal WhatsApp group, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate for last year’s corporation election had posted messages asking other people not to vote for Jariwala, with a black cross on Jariwala’s photo with the words “Don’t vote for this brother” written below the image.
OpIndia does not confirm that this screenshot is authenticated. But in a video of Kanchan Jariwala released by Divya Bhaskar, he looked happily withdrawing his candidature.
These facts prima facie reveal that the AAP candidate from Surat, Kanchan Jariwala, was a victim of internal discord in the party. Despite this, the claims being made by the AAP and the lies that are being tried to spread in Gujarat and the entire country by taking the help of the media.
Kanchan Jariwala’s political journey so far
In the Corporation elections, Kanchan Jariwala had filed his nomination from the Congress in ward number 13 in which he had to face defeat. Apart from this, he had contested elections in the corporation from the Janata Dal years ago and has also filed his nomination as an independent. In all, he has contested 3 elections so far. This time for the first time he was declared a candidate from the Aam Aadmi Party for the assembly elections.
The AAP’s claim
It is notable that AAP leaders from Delhi to Surat in Gujarat were accusing the BJP of abducting Jariwala before he appeared today. The AAP became so impatient to take advantage of Jariwala’s ‘disappearance’ that not only AAP’s CM candidate Isudan Gadhvi but leaders including AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal were also tweeting their doubts on BJP one after the other.
Let’s start with Gujarat AAP’s CM candidate Isudan Gadhvi. On Tuesday, 15th November 2022, Isudan Gadhvi tweeted from his Twitter handle, “The BJP is so scared of AAP that it has come to hooliganism! The BJP was following our Kanchan Jariwala, who was contesting from Surat East, for a few days and today he is missing! His family is also missing! It is believed that BJP goons have taken him away.”
भाजपा ‘आप’ से इतनी डरी हुई है की वो गुंडागर्दी पर आ गई है !सूरत ईस्ट से चुनाव लड़ रहे हमारे कंचन जरिवाला के पीछे भाजपा वाले कुछ दिनो से पीछे पड़े हुए थे और आज वो ग़ायब है !माना जा रहा है की भाजपा के गुंडो ने उन्हें उठा ले गए है ! उनका परिवार भी ग़ायब है !भाजपा कितनी गिरेगी ?
— Isudan Gadhvi (@isudan_gadhvi) November 15, 2022
Gopal Italia also tweeted to take advantage of the opportunity in the same way. He wrote, “The corrupt BJP wants to win the election on account of fear of police and fear of goons. The Aam Aadmi Party has exposed all the claims of development, so the scared corrupt BJP is now getting the nominations returned with the help of goons. Even though the video recording of the entire incident is available, the entire election machinery is only watching it.”
पुलिस के खौफ ओर गुंडों के डर से चुनाव जीतने निकली भ्रष्ट भाजपा।
— Gopal Italia (@Gopal_Italia) November 16, 2022
विकास की सारी पोल आम आदमी पार्टी ने खोल दी है इसलिए डरी हुई भ्रष्ट भाजपा अब गुंडों के सहारे नॉमिनेशन वापस करवा रही है।
सारी घटना का वीडियो रिकॉर्डिंग होने के बाद भी पुरा चुनाव तंत्र सिर्फ तमाशा देख रहा है। https://t.co/fm6I3hM1sw pic.twitter.com/RHceK07Tes
These were the tweets by the state leaders of AAP. Among the national-level leaders of the AAP, the party chief Arvind Kejriwal retweeted the tweet posted by the liquor scam accused AAP leader Manish Sisodia to take an advantage of the opportunity.
गुंडों और पुलिस के दम पर उम्मीदवारों को अगवा करके उनका नामांकन वापिस करवाया जा रहा है।
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) November 16, 2022
इस क़िस्म की सरेआम गुंडागर्दी भारत में कभी नहीं देखी गयी। फिर चुनाव का क्या मतलब रह गया? फिर तो जनतंत्र ख़त्म है। https://t.co/wff4CMihx8
Kejriwal wrote, “Candidates are being abducted with the help of goons and police and their nominations are being returned. This type of hooliganism has never been seen in India. Then what did the election mean? Then democracy is over.”
