New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday announced Isudan Gadhvi as its Chief Ministerial candidate for Gujarat Assembly elections.
Gadhvi reportedly received 73% of the votes in AAP survey on ‘who should be party’s face for CM post.’
The party led by AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal is leading an aggressive campaign in the state against the ruling BJP and has been exhorting public give the party a chance this time, to bring about the ‘real change’.
Who is Isudan Gadhvi & when he joined AAP?
Isudan Gadhvi is a former journalist and TV anchor. He joined the AAP in June last year. It was a conscious choice by Gadhvi to quit the AC studious & office boardrooms & hit the streets for a career in politics. After joining AAP, he claims to have travelled more than 1 lakh kms.
For zeroing on Gujarat CM candidate, the party had announced phone line opinion to guage public opinion, an experiment it undertook in Punjab before finalizing Bhagwant Mann’s name as its CM face in that state. Kejriwal had appealed people to shared their choice for CM candidate via SMS, WhatsApp or e-mail till 5 PM on Nov 3.
What is Gadhvi’s background?
Prior to joining politics, Gadhvi has been one of Gujarat’s most popular TV anchors. His show named ‘Mahamanthan’ on VTV News was one of the most watched prime-time shows, showed its ratings.
Gadhvi was a commerce student but then opted for PG in Journalism & Mass Communication. He joined journalism as a trainee journalist but made a quick rise in journalistic career and became the Editor of VTV News at just 32 years age. His programs mostly focused on people’s issues & finding their solutions. Till he quit journalism, he was already a household name in the state.
What challenges Gadhvi will face?
The 40-year old Isudan Gadhvi comes from an agricultural background and belongs to OBC community. As his name suggests, he belongs to Gadhvi caste, a part of OBC community.
As the OBCs account for almost 48% population of the poll-bound state, this factor is believed to have weighed heavily in his favour. As the party firms up its campaign, Gadhvi’s clean image & popularity as TV anchor is expected to cut ice with the voters and deliver what AAP has been dreaming for.
However, garnering the support of Patidar community with strong vote base in the state will be a big challenge as preferring him over Gopal Italia may have upset the Paatidars.
