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regular-article-logo Friday, 04 October 2024

AAP conducts roadshow in Modi's den Gujarat

AAP leaders have their sights set on coming Assembly polls in the saffron party-ruled state

Our Bureau, PTI Ahmedabad Published 02.04.22, 06:14 PM
Arvind Kjeriwal (L) with Bhagwant Mann at the Sabarmati Ashram on Saturday

Arvind Kjeriwal (L) with Bhagwant Mann at the Sabarmati Ashram on Saturday PTI Picture

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann on Saturday started on a roadshow in Ahmedabad city after appealing the people of Gujarat to give "one chance" to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to rule the state.

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The AAP leaders, with their sights set on coming Assembly polls in the BJP-ruled state, set out on the two-km roadshow in the city atop a truck decked up as a chariot after seeking the blessings of Goddess Khodiyar Mata at a temple in Nikol area.

The BJP is "full of arrogance" after being in power in the state for 25 years, and the people should give "one chance" to his party, Kejriwal said before the roadshow, called "Tiranga Gaurav Yatra," began.

Kejriwal and Mann were accompanied by Gujarat AAP leaders Isudan Gadhvi and Gopal Italia. "After Delhi and Punjab, we are now prepared for Gujarat," shouted Mann.

Kejriwal said he does not know how to do politics, but knows how to end corruption. "In Delhi we have finished corruption, in Punjab Bhagwant Mann finished corruption in ten days," the AAP leader said. "After 25 years of rule, they are full of arrogance...give a chance to AAP, like the people of Delhi and Punjab gave. If you do not like it, change the government and bring them back," he said.

The two leaders began their two-day Ahmedabad visit by paying tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Gandhi Ashram in Sabarmati in the morning. AAP workers and supporters lined up on both sides of the road, with many of them holding the tricolour in hand, as they cheered the two leaders during the roadshow.

During their Gandhi Ashram visit, the two leaders tried their hands on 'charkha,' (spinning wheel), paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at his statue, and were given a guided tour of the museum.

In the visitors' book, Kejriwal said he felt blessed to be born in a country, where Gandhiji took birth.

"This ashram is a spiritual place. It seems as if Gandhiji's soul resides here. Coming here gives a spiritual feeling. I consider myself blessed that I was born in the country in which Gandhiji was born," Kejriwal wrote in the visitors' diary.

Talking to reporters later, he said that although this was his first visit to the ashram after becoming the chief minister of Delhi, he has visited the place several times in the past as an "activist".

"I have visited the ashram several times in the past, and every time I visit, I feel peaceful and as if the soul of Gandhiji resides here," he said.

Mann wrote in the diary, "Today, while visiting Gandhi Ashram, got to see many things that were used during the freedom struggle of the country, such as Gandhi's handwritten letter, original spinning wheel, and many other things related to his life."

"Today, while living in a free country, we have to remember the sacrifice of those fellow revolutionaries," he added.

Mann later told reporters that he comes from the land of martyrs, and in every village there are people who have fought for the country's freedom.

He said that nearly every household in Punjab has charkha on which women spin yarn while humming traditional songs.

"I come from a land of shaheeds like Lala Lajpat Rai, Madanlal Dhingra, Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev, Kartar Singh Sarabha. In every village, you will find the 'parvane' who sacrificed their lives for India's freedom," he told reporters.

"Visiting this ashram, I got to see many things like Gandhiji's hand-written letters, and learnt about various other objects used in revolution. About charkha, I was saying that there is charkha in nearly every household in Punjab. Ladies sing cultural songs while spinning yarn," he further said.

"Here, I saw the original charkha and how he promoted indigenous objects, which are today being promoted differently. We are nationalists who love the country. I have visited Gujarat for the first time after becoming a chief minister. I believe that the people of Gujarat are very 'inqualibi' (revolutionary), and I am hopeful they will make a big contribution in the progress of the country," Mann said.

Kejriwal refused to take political questions from the media, saying that this is a "pious place of Gandhi".

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