Lagatar24 Desk
Gujarat, Nov 16: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led by Arvind Kejriwal, claimed on Wednesday that one of its candidates in Gujarat had been “kidnapped” and coerced with a gun to withdraw his nomination for the election taking place next month.
The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Surat East Assembly seat candidate in Gujarat withdrew his nomination on Wednesday. The AAP initially claimed that Kanchan Jariwala, the party’s candidate for Surat (East), had been missing since yesterday in a flurry of tweets.
#WATCH | Gujarat: AAP candidate from Surat (East) from Gujarat, Kanchan Jariwala, takes back his nomination after he was allegedly kidnapped last evening pic.twitter.com/E1vqqkveNi
— ANI (@ANI) November 16, 2022
“BJP has kidnapped AAP candidate Kanchan Jariwala,” Manish Sisodia told reporters.
Sisodia claimed that Jariwala surfaced shortly after and was escorted by 500 police officers to the Gujarat election returning office.
“There is pressure on him to withdraw his nomination. He has been forced to sit in the poll office and is being pressured by policemen. I want to tell the Election commission that this is an open threat to democracy,” Sisodia alleged.
Delhi | Our candidate from Surat (East) from Gujarat, Kanchan Jariwala has just been brought to Returning Officer's office. He was circled by over 500 policemen & is now being pressured to take his nomination back: AAP leader Manish Sisodia https://t.co/BZjrlYhZZ2 pic.twitter.com/Bz6wXdF3pJ
— ANI (@ANI) November 16, 2022
“A candidate was kidnapped. They got him to withdraw his nomination at gunpoint. What can be a bigger emergency for the Election Commission? So we have come to the Election Commission with an appeal for immediate action,” he tweeted.
However, the BJP denied the charge and asked the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP to take care of its own house.
ALSO READ: Gujarat assembly polls: Shashi Tharoor opts out of campaign
The AAP has aggressively challenged the state’s long-standing BJP versus Congress rivalry, turning the state’s 27-year rule by the governing party into a triangular election.
Notably, Gujarat elects a new government on December 1 and 5. On December 8, the results will be made public.
