Gujarat BJP chief Paatil slams Kejriwal, says AAP promises of freebies won’t work

NE NEWS SERVICE

AHMEDABAD, MAY 7

Gujarat BJP president CR Paatil on Saturday targeted Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and called him a “mahathug” trying to woo voters in Gujarat with promises of freebies, and asserted that such offers will not get him votes in the state.

'વન ડે – વન ડિસ્ટ્રિક્ટ' અંતર્ગત બારડોલી ખાતે શિક્ષકો, રિટાયર્ડ અધિકારીઓ, કર્મચારીઓ સાથે સંવાદ સાધ્યો.

પ્રદેશ મહામંત્રી શ્રી @pradipsinhbjp જી, પ્રદેશ ઉપાધ્યક્ષ શ્રી ગોરધનભાઈ ઝડફીયા, શ્રી મહેન્દ્રભાઈ પટેલ, શ્રી જયંતિભાઈ કવાડીયા ઉપસ્થિત રહ્યા (1/2) pic.twitter.com/O0zPLPKiGl

— C R Paatil (Modi Ka Parivar) (@CRPaatil) May 7, 2022

Without naming Kejriwal, Paatil said some political leaders, when polls are near, start flocking to the state like “a frog in the monsoon”. Polls in Gujarat are likely to be held in December, and the Aam Aadmi Party is gearing up to replace Congress as the man challenger to the BJP, which has been ruling the state for the past 27 years.

Kejriwal had recently held a rally in Bharuch district of south Gujarat, and had also participated in a roadshow with party colleague and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in Ahmedabad.

પ્રદેશ મહામંત્રી શ્રી @rajnipatel_mla જી, શ્રી @pradipsinhbjp જી, કેબિનેટ મંત્રી શ્રી @KanuDesai180 જી, રાજ્યકક્ષાના મંત્રી શ્રી @mukeshpatelmla જી, જિલ્લા પ્રમુખ શ્રી સંદીપભાઈ દેસાઈ તથા મોટી સંખ્યામાં સાધુ-સંતો, કલાકારો અને સાહિત્યકારો ઉપસ્થિત રહ્યા.(2/2) pic.twitter.com/NcR90qMWcZ

— C R Paatil (Modi Ka Parivar) (@CRPaatil) May 7, 2022

“When elections near, leaders of some political parties flock to Gujarat like a frog in the monsoon. When he wears a muffler, it means winter has arrived in Delhi. This man is not a ‘thag (conman)’ but a mahathug,” Paatil said while addressing BJP workers at Kadodara during the ruling party’s ‘One Day One District’ programme.

'વન ડે – વન ડિસ્ટ્રિક્ટ'

અખંડ ભારતના શિલ્પકાર શ્રી સરદાર વલ્લભભાઈ પટેલ દ્વારા સ્થપાયેલા અને સ્વાતંત્ર્ય સંગ્રામના સાક્ષી એવા બારડોલીના 'સ્વરાજ આશ્રમ'ની પ્રદેશ અધ્યક્ષ શ્રી @CRPaatil મુલાકાત લીધી અને પત્રકાર પરિષદને સંબોધન કર્યું. pic.twitter.com/3oVf9HdBvi

— BJP Gujarat (@BJP4Gujarat) May 7, 2022

“He (Kejriwal) tries to offer freebies in the state. I have said this in public before and will say it again that Gujarat has its own culture. There is a speciality of Gujaratis. They extend hands to give and not take. (Gujaratis) do not like freebies. Making them a free offer will not get you votes,” the Navsari Lok Sabha member said.

Paatil hailed the BJP for its administration, adding that Gujarat was spared power cuts even as some states faced outages. Calling BJP workers as soldiers moving with determination towards the target of 2022 (Assembly polls), Patil said “no one has the strength to stop the Ashwamegh Yajna of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.

The Gujarat unit of AAP reacted to Paatil’s comment on freebies by calling it an “insult to the people of Gujarat.”

“You have no issue getting free electricity bill, petrol allowance, phone bill, medical facilities from the tax money of the people of Gujarat. But you feel the pain when someone talks about offering freebies to the people from their own tax money. You should apologise to the people of Gujarat,” AAP leader Isudan Gadhvi said.

Recently, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal had announced that with effect from October 1, 2022 free electricity will be offered to only those who make demand for it in the NCR. This puts a question mark on AK’s offer in poll-bound Gujarat.

Ahead of polls, AMTS buses offer free ride for senior citizens aged 65 years and above and BRTS for those above 75 years of age. The ruling party has been emulating the Dravidian model of freebies in many states.

Meanwhile, one of the leading National English dailies, The Indian Express, had carried a news item titled “BJP’s Gujarat poll drive: Painting lotus symbol on public walls” on March 23, 2022.

Despite this, the ruling party has been continuing its graffiti drive on Ahmedabad metro pillars as Metro trial run is going on between Old High Court and Thaltej stretch. And most probably, regular runs will be launched before the announcement of state Assembly polls to take credit for he same.  Metro works were supposed to be completed before 2017 polls but still remain incomplete.

Incidentally, the state wide campaign was launched by state BJP president CR Paatil from Ahmedabad and Surat on March 13 where he and other leaders painted party slogans on public walls.

This is in violation of the Section 245 of the Gujarat Provincial Municipal Corporations (GPMC) Act which prohibits third-party advertisements on any premises, including private buildings, without prior permission of the respective municipal commissioners.

“No person shall, without the written permission of the Commissioner, erect, exhibit, fix or retain any advertisement upon any land, building, wall, hoarding or structure,” the section reads.

Who will bell the cat?