AAP’s Gujarat nominee withdraws from race; kidnapped by BJP: Manish Sisodia

New Delhi, November 16

The Aam Aadmi Party today alleged that its candidate for Surat East Assembly seat in Gujarat Kanchan Jariwala was kidnapped and pressured to withdraw his candidature by ruling BJP, as the Election Commission has sent the representation in this regard to the state’s Chief Electoral Officer to inquire and take “action as warranted”. Jariwala, however, on his part cleared the air by issuing a video statement in which he is purportedly seen and heard saying he withdrew his nomination “without any pressure” and by listening to his “conscience” after the people of his constituency labelled him “anti-national” and “anti-Gujarat” for contesting the polls on AAP ticket and threatened not to support him.

Besides submitting a representation to the Election Commission, the AAP also wrote to Gujarat CEO P Bharathi and requested her to inquire into the incident and take appropriate action. A four-member delegation of AAP led by party leader and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia met the Commission officials and handed over a representation. The party alleged that AAP candidate from Surat (East) was forced to withdraw his nomination when he went to the returning officer’s office.

An EC spokesperson said AAP’s representation has been sent to the CEO in Gujarat to inquire and take “action as warranted”. Addressing a press conference here, Sisodia said their Surat seat candidate Jariwala, along with his family, had been missing since Tuesday. “In this election, the BJP is miserably losing in Gujarat and has become so rattled that it has stooped to the level of kidnapping our candidate,” he alleged.

However, Surat city BJP president Niranjan Zanzmera refuted the allegations and said the AAP should instead “take care of its own house”.

The BJP has fielded sitting MLA Arvind Rana from the seat.