Isudan Gadhvi interview ‘Gujarat model has always failed in hard times. We saw it in Covid, now the rain’

Why has the rain left Gujarat in such a bad shape?

We see it as complete failure of the BJP government. The party has been in power in Gujarat for 27 years and their model has always failed whenever there are hard times. Similar situation had arisen during the Covid pandemic. There are three reasons for the current civic mess — rampant corruption in civic bodies, the BJP’s lack of willpower as they depend on Narendra Modi’s persona for votes, and their arrogance as they think voters have no other options.

Can you give an example of the alleged rampant corruption?

The BJP has been in power for the last 15 years in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. The city’s annual budget is close to Rs 9,500 crore. Over 15 years, that amounts to Rs 1.5 lakh crore. There are 48 wards in Ahmedabad, every ward then should have got at least Rs 1,000 crore. Where did the money go? We see potholes in roads just two years after their construction. Why don’t we find such potholes on the roads leading to the Chief Minister’s residence? You are not ensuring quality in your work, there is only corruption.

Do you think civic issues will matter in the coming Assembly elections?

The BJP has become arrogant after 27 years of power, thinking voters don’t have any other option. But we met families of people who died during the pandemic, visited affected areas in the rain, and interacted with over 8.5 lakh outsourced workers in Gujarat. All these people are waiting for elections to give their answer.

AAP recently released a spoof video of Amitabh Bachchan’s ad ‘Kuchch din toh guzaro Gujarat mein’ on the waterlogging in Ahmedabad. You think such measures hit home?

We did not make the video, it was the people of Gujarat who keep making such memes and videos and send them to us. They see what is happening on the ground and the reality of the ‘Gujarat Model’ and they wish to expose it.

Despite the harsh Covid lockdown and the subsequent economic slowdown, the BJP won the 2021 local body polls across the state by a landslide. AAP could make an impact only in Surat. What makes you think this time it will be different?

Local body polls were held in February 2021, which was before the second wave of the Covid pandemic. The first wave was not that deadly but it was the second wave in April and May which exposed the BJP model completely. This time, I believe it will be different.

Do you think voters will choose AAP over the Congress as the main opposition party in Gujarat?

In the local body polls of 2021, the Congress had lost all the 31 zilla panchayat seats across the state to the BJP. We were a new party, yet we won 27 seats in Surat. When it comes to cities, there are 66 Assembly seats in which the Congress is weak, thereby turning them into BJP bastions. This time we will be breaching these bastions. People in cities don’t back the Congress, it is a fact.

What about the rural belts, where the Congress has dominance?

We have held ‘gamda baithak (village meetings)’ in 10,000 villages of Gujarat. People want to move from the Congress to AAP. There is a terrific current for our party in the rural belts. Is it a coincidence that right after we finished our ‘Jansamvedna Yatra’ in Gujarat, the BJP replaced its CM with Bhupendra Patel? They won all the local body polls and bypolls under Vijay Rupani, then suddenly why the need to change the CM?

The BJP has launched a Sadasyata Abhiyaan to target the autorickshaw drivers. Is it meant to counter you?

Autowallahs in Delhi wholeheartedly support Arvind Kejriwal. Similar love is being shown by them in Ahmedabad. Sensing this, the BJP started the drive to put their posters on autorickshaws. I checked with two-three drivers myself, and they told me that the BJP had given them money to install the same. They support Arvind Kejriwal, they told me later. Why will autowallahs vote for the BJP? The CNG rate has shot up from Rs 42 to Rs 86, their earnings have reduced by half.

You have accused the BJP of misgovernance during the Covid pandemic. How would you have handled it?

By God’s grace, we have over 12 lakh party workers in Gujarat. Even during the ongoing flood situation, our workers are assisting victims in Navsari and Valsad. Had we been in power during the second wave, we would have opened stadiums to convert them into hospitals. Under 48 hours, we would have prepared over 50,000 beds in one stadium.

BJP Gujarat president C R Paatil refers to your party’s leaders as ‘pravasis (outsiders)’.

We are Gujaratis, it is Paatil who is a Pravasi. Maharashtra is his native place. We don’t believe in regionalism, but can’t the BJP find a Gujarati to lead their state unit? Paatil runs the state government through remote control and he wishes to become the CM.

What is your larger plan for the cities of Gujarat? Will we see the Delhi Model you talk about?

Delhi is a metropolitan city with a largely urban population, whereas Gujarat’s issues are very distinct and unique. The health and education model of Delhi can be implemented, but the overall model of governance in Gujarat will be to serve the people as per their needs. We will be focusing on marginalised societies, Dalit, OBC, Thakor, tribal in Gujarat, and how to uplift their social status. We are going to tell them that your one vote can save your Rs 10 lakh in five years. We will be their servants and not rulers.

You were known as a blunt TV anchor, and now as a politician, you have to measure your words. How do you see yourself evolving?

Since my school days, I wanted to become a journalist. However, after 16 years in the industry, I realised that one has to enter the dirt to clean it. During the Covid pandemic, I witnessed several heartbreaking moments of people losing hope. It was then that I decided to join AAP. After that, wherever I went, I was told by people that I took the right decision.