A trip in time saves 93? AAP’s dash to Somnath before withdrawal deadline

Sources said the party was spooked after its Surat (East) candidate Kanchan Jariwala disappeared one evening, to emerge the next day and withdraw his nomination.

By Monday, some of the AAP candidates were “back on the field”, as per what they told The Indian Express. Others admitted going to Somnath, but said it was for "prayers". (Express File)

SEQUESTERING MLAs after elections is passe. The Aam Aadmi Party has made a head start on others in Gujarat. On Sunday, a day before the last day of withdrawal of nominations for the second and final day of polling in the state, the party is believed to have whisked away all its 93 candidates for that phase to a huddle in Somnath.

Officially, the party’s stand was that the candidates had gone to the Somnath temple for “darshan”.

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Sources said the party was spooked after its Surat (East) candidate Kanchan Jariwala disappeared one evening, to emerge the next day and withdraw his nomination. AAP claims that he was “kidnapped” and forced to withdraw his nomination by the BJP, but has little substantial to back that up.

By Monday, some of the AAP candidates were “back on the field”, as per what they told The Indian Express. Others admitted going to Somnath, but said it was for “prayers”.

Om Prakash Tiwari, the AAP candidate from Naroda Assembly constituency in Ahmedabad, said they went for a party meeting to Veraval, Somnath. “We were there, so we did darshan at the nearby Somnath temple. I came back Sunday, some might be coming back today (Monday).”

Sources said the party had information about some of the candidates coming under BJP pressure to withdraw. “Once the date to withdraw nominations passed, the candidates who were taken to a safe place were brought back,” a source in the party told The Indian Express.

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Other party candidates said they never went to Somnath. The party candidate from Deesa in Banaskantha district, Ramesh Patel, said he was “unaware” of any such pilgrimage to Somnath, and that he had been in his constituency for the past two-three days.

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Nikhil Savani, the vice-president of AAP’s youth wing, denied any herding of candidates by the party. “There is nothing like that. They are not here (Somnath) now, everyone is on the ground.”

Candidates from two other seats — Manjalpur (Vadodara) and Ellisbridge (Ahmedabad) — who were believed to have camped in Somnath, could not be contacted.