Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Monday addressed a regional conference of booth volunteers in Vadodara and lashed out at both the BJP and the Congress. He said that BJP will be out of power in the 2027 elections and the people of Gujarat will take charge of the governance of the state. Arvind Kejriwal said that for the last 30 years, BJP has ruled Gujarat through fear, imprisonment and corruption, but now that fear has gone from the minds of the people.
The AAP chief said that Congress gets government contracts from the BJP government, hence the public has no expectations from it. He said that only AAP can defeat BJP in Gujarat. He said that Gujarat has been looted and this is no longer a fight for power, but a fight for respect and justice for the people of Gujarat.
Addressing the gathering, AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal said that Aam Aadmi Party is expanding rapidly throughout Gujarat. He said that even BJP now does not have an organization as big as AAP. “BJP has spread fear and harassment across Gujarat and people are fed up,” he said.
The AAP supremo further said, “The fear of BJP is continuously disappearing from the minds of people and they are now coming forward to openly oppose the party. BJP has ruled Gujarat for 30 years only through fear, oppression and corruption.” Arvind Kejriwal said that many AAP leaders including Praveen Ram and Rajubhai Karpada are in jail for the last three months.
Arvind Kejriwal further said that after the sudden and forceful action on the Haddad farmers’ movement, the BJP government put 85 poor farmers in jail. He said, “These farmers were raising their voice against the tax system. They were demanding their due rights and the protest was peaceful.”
Arvind Kejriwal said he met the families of jailed farmers, who told him that even if their children have to spend three years in jail for the sake of Gujarat, for the people of Gujarat and for the progress of Gujarat, they are ready for it. He said, “The fear of BJP is gradually ending from the minds of the people of Gujarat and people are slowly starting to stand up.”
The AAP national convenor said there was a time when Gujarat was considered one of the most prosperous states in the country, but in the last 30 years the BJP has looted everything. He hit out at the BJP for eating farmers’ fertilizers and seeds, drinking farmers’ water, denying MSP for their crops and usurping their hard-earned money.
He further said, “The BJP has looted Gujarat’s roads, electricity, schools and hospitals. The condition of government schools is pathetic, forcing poor families to send their children to private schools, where private school operators indulge in intimidation and large-scale looting. Medicines are not available in government hospitals, tests are not conducted and doctors are missing.”
Arvind Kejriwal called out that government hospitals have been deliberately ruined so that poor people are forced to get treatment in private hospitals. “Private schools and private hospitals are owned by the BJP leaders themselves,” he stressed.
The national convenor of AAP said that the traders themselves are saying, “We pay taxes, we send money to their leaders, we give money to their party, yet they insult us. The BJP has ruined the businesses of the traders and their children are sitting unemployed. When the youth ask for jobs, they are handed bottles of spurious liquor.”
Arvind Kejriwal said that BJP has ruined Gujarat in 30 years. Referring to the Hadad incident, he said that after entering people’s houses, they were beaten with sticks and publicly humiliated. “This is not a fight for power. This is a fight for the honor of Gujarat. It is not about removing one party and bringing in another, it is a fight for honor and justice,” he said.
Arvind Kejriwal said that two years ago, a boat accident took place in Harni Lake, where small school children had gone for a boat trip organized by the school. Twelve children and two teachers drowned because they were not given safety jackets. He said, “The contractor belonged to the BJP. The officers who showed hooliganism also belonged to the BJP. Even after two years, no one has been punished.”
He said that BJP is not concerned about the people of Gujarat and only cares about its contractors. He said, “BJP is not a party of Gujaratis. It is a party of contractors and goons.”
Arvind Kejriwal further said that a few months ago some women had gone to the Chief Minister’s rally to demand justice. “They requested to meet the Chief Minister, but the Chief Minister had them thrown out by the police. The women were insulted and two days later the police arrived to demolish their houses. What kind of justice is this? What kind of Gujarat do they want to create?” He asked, the people of Gujarat will have to stand up and end this hooliganism.
Arvind Kejriwal said that Gujarat has the most poor and backward tribal areas. According to the Constitution, thousands of crores of rupees come every year for the development of tribal areas. Arvind Kejriwal commented, “If this money is spent honestly, there will be excellent schools for children and excellent hospitals for families. Roads will be built, water will be available for irrigation and free electricity will reach homes.”
However, he said this money never reaches the tribal communities. He said that tribal leader Chaitra Vasava has been sent to jail two-three times because he had raised his voice for the tribal society.
Arvind Kejriwal said that a few days ago the Prime Minister visited Dediapada and held a huge rally. “Chaitar Vasava filed an RTI asking how much money was spent on the rally and where it came from. The reply revealed that ₹50 crore was spent on the Prime Minister’s rally from the Tribal Welfare Fund. This fund comes from the Gujarat government for building schools and hospitals for tribals, irrigation, electricity and village development.” Arvind Kejriwal said that ₹2 crore was spent on samosas (snacks), ₹5 crore on tents and ₹7 crore on buses.
“The Prime Minister has a lot of money. He should have spent the Central Government’s money. Why was the rally organized with the money of the tribal community?” Arvind Kejriwal said that many schools and hospitals could have been built with ₹50 crore. He said, “This is how they steal public money. This is why the tribal society is backward.”
The AAP chief said that BJP has suppressed people only through fear, harassment and insult. “There is anarchy throughout Gujarat. When oppression crosses the limits, people stand up against it,” he said. He said that today entire Gujarat is standing against BJP.
Arvind Kejriwal said that huge crowd is gathering in every rally of AAP and people are openly saying that this time there will be change. He said, “People have made up their mind. In the 2027 elections, BJP will go from Gujarat and the people of Gujarat will come to power.”
Arvind Kejriwal said that the people of Gujarat themselves are saying that Congress is incompetent. “Congress leaders themselves say that they run businesses in partnership with the BJP. How can they raise their voice against them? If they do, their contracts will be closed,” he said.
He said that Congress leaders get government contracts from the BJP government in Gujarat. He further said, “Congress can never defeat BJP. Only Aam Aadmi Party can defeat BJP, because AAP leaders do not take contracts from the BJP government. We do not want contracts, we work for the people.”
Arvind Kejriwal said that five BJP MLAs from Vadodara, Shailesh Sotta, Ketan Inamdar, Dharmendrasingh Vaghela, Akshay Patel and Chaitanyasingh Jhala have written a letter to their Chief Minister. In the letter he said that the administrative system in the state is deteriorating day by day.
He said that the MLAs have written that the administration is meant to work smoothly, but today even the smallest work in the government office has become like a war for the common citizen. The problems of the public are increasing from senior officers to junior employees. Officials consider themselves above the public and elected representatives and act arbitrarily.
Arvind Kejriwal said, “Officials are not even listening to the MLAs. When the Chief Minister received the letter, he said that the officials are not even listening to him.” He said that through this letter the MLAs have given a message to the public that they should not come to them for work because they cannot get anything done.
Arvind Kejriwal said that the people of Gujarat should vote for those who can actually get the work done. “Form the AAP government in Gujarat and every public work will be completed,” he said, adding that if the BJP had ruled well for 30 years, no one would have attended AAP’s rallies.
“Today people come to our rallies with hope,” he said, assuring that 7 crore Gujaratis will come together and form the AAP government in 2027. He said AAP will build a prosperous Gujarat where farmers and traders will be happy, youth will get employment, farmers will get fertilizers, seeds and irrigation water on time, crops will get full prices, roads will be good and quality schools and hospitals will be built.
He said, “We will create a Gujarat without poisonous liquor, without drugs, without corruption, without hooliganism. Contractors will not impose their conditions. No one will intimidate, no one will be afraid. Fear will end and people will work fearlessly.”
Arvind Kejriwal said that AAP workers and supporters should be ready to go to jail. He said that there are still two years left for the elections and as the elections come closer, they will send more people to jail. He highlighted that Chaitra Vasava, Praveen Ram and Raju Karpada have already been jailed and activists will be targeted in future also.
“There was no fault of mine, yet I spent six months in jail because I dared to raise my voice against their harassment,” he said, adding that leaders like Sanjay Singh and Manish Sisodia were also jailed. He said, “They will send people to jail and I will bring them out.”
Addressing party workers, Arvind Kejriwal said that tireless work is needed in the next two years. He said that the workers will have to go door-to-door to connect people with the movement for change and called upon the workers to take a pledge that each person will add five new voters every day.
He said that the people of Visavadar have given hope and a message to the entire Gujarat. “If Visavadar can challenge BJP, the whole of Gujarat can challenge BJP,” he said. He called for replicating the Visavadar model in the entire state.
The AAP supremo concluded by saying that people from every community are joining AAP across Gujarat. He concluded, “It is a matter of great joy that the whole of Gujarat is joining with AAP.”
