Gujarat Assembly polls: Kejriwal asks people not to waste votes on Congress, claims it would get just 4-5 seats

PTI, Nov 14, 2022, 5:09 PM IST

Aam Aadmi Party’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Monday appealed to the people of poll-bound Gujarat ”not to waste their votes” on the Congress and instead vote for the AAP, claiming his party was in a direct contest with the ruling BJP.

Talking to reporters after arriving in Ahmedabad, Kejriwal further claimed that the Congress will get just four-five seats in polls to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly to be held on December 1 and 5. The BJP has been in power in Gujarat for 27 years. This time, the Kejriwal-led AAP has been engaged in a high-decibel campaign to project itself as the BJP’s main challenger by repeatedly stressing that the Congress is losing ground.

The AAP has already announced the names of its candidates on 178 seats.

”It is my estimate that the vote share of the Congress will fall below 13 per cent and it will get 4-5 seats. This is a direct contest between the AAP and the BJP,” Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal told reporters after landing in Ahmedabad.

He appealed to the Congress’s ”hardcore voters”, who still plan to vote for it, to ”not waste their votes” by doing so.

”They should vote for the AAP, which is offering hope to your children and your family,” said Kejriwal.

He claimed the Congress was collapsing completely as the polls neared. ”Nobody is going to vote for the Congress,” he added.

Kejriwal further claimed there were two types of voters in the state – one who hated the BJP and did not want to vote for it as they were frustrated after 27 years of its ”misrule”. ”Then there were others who were frustrated with the the BJP but hated the Congress more and had to vote for the ruling party out of helplessness,” he said.

The second category of voters will vote for the AAP and at the same time, the Congress’s votes were also shifting to the AAP, he said.

Kejriwal is likely to stay in Gujarat for two days for election-related activities, as per an AAP functionary.