The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday announced Isudan Gadhvi as its chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Gujarat elections to be held in two phases on December 1 and 5.
AAP chief and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said during a press conference that Gadhvi received 73% votes in the party's survey on who should be its Gujarat chief ministerial candidate.
Gadhvi, after the announcement, said in an emotional speech, "God has given me everything. Now I ask for God's blessing so that I can ease the suffering of the people of Gujarat."
Who is Isudan Gadhvi?
Gadhvi is a former journalist and TV anchor. Gadhvi used to work for VTV Gujarati and hosted a prime-time show called Mahamanthan.
NDTV reported that Gadhvi worked with Doordarshan, his first job as a journalist, and worked with ETV Gujarat as well. He joined VTV in 2015.
Gadhvi is the national joint-general secretary of the party. He joined AAP in 2021.
Speaking at the event after he was announced the CM face, Gadhvi said he comes from a family of farmers. He hails from the Pipliya village of Dwarka district in Gujarat.
Gadhvi said. he joined politics because while as a journalist he could raise his voice against certain issues, he needed to be "in the system" to make an actual difference.
"Politics is not my hobby, but my compulsion, that is why I joined politics," Gadhvi said.
He said, "I have come into politics not because of politics, but for the people of Gujarat."
According to NDTV, Gadhvi's reportage of a Rs 150 crore scam of illegal deforestation in Gujarat's Dang and Kaparada got him recognition.
When Gadhvi joined AAP in 2021, Kejriwal had called it a "huge sacrifice". Hindustan Times had reported Kejriwal as saying, "Gadhvi has left a plum career for AAP...You can bring a change from outside the system, but there is a limitation to this. So, Gadhvi decided to join the system and clean the mess."