- AAP will provide them with the right forum to work for the cause of nation-building through social work: Alpesh Katheria
- Prominent Koli community leader Raju Solanki and his son Brajraj Solanki join the AAP in Kejriwal’s presence at Bhavnagar city.
- Why the BJP doesn’t implement it in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, asks AAP national convenor
NE NEWS SERVICE
BHAVNAGAR, OCT 30
In a shot in the arm for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Gujarat, Patidar leaders Alpesh Katheria and Rithibai Malviya joined AAP in the presence of party’s national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in Bhavnagar on Sunday.
આમ આદમી પાર્ટીની સરકાર બનતા પાટીદાર યુવાનો પર થયેલ ખોટા કેસો પરત ખેંચવામાં આવશે તથા શહીદ પરિવારોને સરકારી નોકરી આપવામાં આવશે.
આમ આદમી પાર્ટીના માધ્યમથી સમાજ અને રાજ્યના મુદ્દાઓ પર કામ કરીશું. – @OfficialAlpesh pic.twitter.com/2EpoU7TTTG
— AAP Gujarat (@AAPGujarat) October 30, 2022
Alpesh Kathiriya, a prominent Patidar leader, was part of the 2015 agitation for the reservation to the community in Gujarat where the Assembly polls are due this year-end.
He joined the AAP in the presence of the party’s national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during an election rally in Gariadhar city of Bhavnagar district.
આપ સૌને મારી બે વિનંતી છે;
આપ સૌ પોતાના વોટ્સએપમાં જેટલા પણ નંબર છે એ સૌને આમ આદમી પાર્ટીને વૉટ કરવા મેસેજ કરજો.
એકે-એક વ્યક્તિ સો-સો વ્યક્તિને 'આપ' માટે વૉટ કરવાનું કહેવાનું છે.
– @ArvindKejriwal #AAP_ની_Kranti pic.twitter.com/rUuD57Oq18— AAP Gujarat (@AAPGujarat) October 30, 2022
Kathiriya is a convener of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), an outfit that had organised state-wide agitation demanding Other Backward Class (OBC) status and reservation in government jobs and educational institutions to the youth from the Patidar community.
He joined the AAP along with his friend and PAAS co-convener Dharmik Malaviya and other members of the organisation. Kathiriya said all of them feel that the AAP will provide them with the right forum to work for the cause of nation-building through social work.
“All of us will have to come forward in this struggle for the community, for our pride, for the nation, for better education, health, and corruption-free good governance. Your support is required,” Kathiriya said in his address at the election rally following his induction.
“The greater the struggle, the bigger the victory,” said Kathiriya, who faced more than 22 cases, including that of sedition, for his involvement in the 2015 reservation agitation and spent over 14 months in jail before being released on bail.
Kathiriya is a friend of Hardik Patel, a former convener of PAAS who jumped into the political arena by first joining the Congress were served as its working president before resigning to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Kathiriya was the face of the Patidar reservation agitation in Surat and was jailed in a sedition case that was registered against him by the Surat police. He was formerly associated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
After inducting him and others, Kejriwal said, “I welcome Kathiriya and Malaviya in AAP. Both are youth leaders, and the future of India is in the hands of the youth. They are struggling leaders who fought a long battle for the rights of youths and went to jail.” Earlier in the day, prominent Koli community leader Raju Solanki and his son Brajraj Solanki joined the AAP in Kejriwal’s presence at Bhavnagar city.
Incidentally, AAP Gujarat unit chief Gopal Italiya is a Patidar from Bhavnagar. AAP is ramping up its efforts to make its ‘Mission Patidar’ a success in the run-up to the upcoming assembly elections.
Uniform Civil Code is BJP’s poll gimmick: Kejriwal
Commenting on ruling BJP’s formation of a panel to implementing a Uniform Civil Code – a contentious issue for Muslims, that does away with religion-based laws – in the state, Arvind Kejriwal said that the BJP is bluffing. He added that the ruling party made the same promise ahead of the Uttarakhand assembly elections but didn’t implement it after winning the polls.
“They formed a committee after winning the Uttarakhand elections, but then they went back home,” he said, claiming that they have now formed a committee “three days before Gujarat elections” which will also “go home” after the polls.
Kejriwal said that a Uniform Civil Code should be made, as Article 44 of the Constitution clearly states that it is the responsibility of the government to do so, but it should be done with the consent of and in consultation with all communities.
Arvind Kejriwal questioned why the BJP doesn’t implement it in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh — states where it’s in power.
Flaying this as poll gimmick, Kejriwal asked “Why not implement it across the country. Are they waiting for the Lok Sabha elections?”
