A former Congress leader, the daughter of a former chief minister and a Dalit writer on Monday joined the Aam Aadmi Party in Gujarat, where elections are likely to be held in December.
Chetan Raval, son of former state home minister Prabodh Raval and a former president of a city unit of the Congress, had resigned from the party on Saturday and joined the AAP claiming he was encouraged by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's "people-oriented approach".
He said the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state and at the Centre as well as the Congress had failed to solve people's issues. His father Prabodh Raval was the home minister of the state in the 1980s under Madhavsinh Solanki and was also two-time Congress state unit president. Nita Mehta, daughter of former chief minister Chhabildas Mehta, also joined the AAP a day after meeting Kejriwal, who was on a two-day visit to the state on Saturday and Sunday.
A social worker, Mehta said she was joining AAP due to Kejriwal's governance in Delhi and his fight against inflation. Dalit writer Sunil Jadav, who had returned a state government award in 2017 as a mark of protest, also joined the AAP claiming the ruling dispensation in Gujarat had completely failed in eradicating untouchability of Dalits. He said atrocities like not allowing Dalits inside temples, ride horses in marriage processions or keep moustaches etc were on the rise in the state but no action was being taken. The three joined in the presence of AAP national joint secretary Indranil Rajguru.
(Published 03 October 2022, 12:26 IST)
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