Ahmedabad, Jul 18 : The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will be on a two-day Gujarat visit from July 23, it said on Friday.
The two leaders will take part in the party’s ‘Kisan-Pashupalak Mahapanchayat’ gathering in support of farmers and cattle-breeders, and speak at a public meeting in support of jailed AAP MLA Chaitar Vasava, said the party’s state unit chief Isudan Gadhvi here.
The Mahapanchayat would take place at Modasa in Aravalli district on July 23. On July 24, they will speak out against the “false cases” filed against Vasava in Dediapada, Gadhvi said.
“When dairy farmers went to Sabar Dairy to demand a difference in milk prices, the police used teargas and baton charge against them and registered an FIR. Kejriwal will speak at the Mahapanchayat where he will raise the issue of corruption in the dairy sector, and speak about dairy farmers not getting their dues,” he said.
On July 14, a protest by dairy farmers outside Sabar Dairy in Sabarkantha district turned violent, leading to a few police personnel getting injured. Police lobbed teargas shells to disperse the stone-pelting crowd.
It was claimed that one Ashok Patel died during the incident, but police maintained that as per the post-mortem report, he did not die due to any external injuries.
“We have demanded that before Arvind Kejriwal’s arrival, the dairy committee should pay the difference in the price (bonus) to farmers, withdraw the false case filed against them and investigate the death of the farmer and give him (his family) a compensation of Rs 1 crore,” Gadhvi said in a video statement.
As AAP has gained acceptance in tribal areas and its leader Chaitar Vasava is becoming the voice of tribal communities, he was jailed, Gadhvi alleged.
This will be Kejriwal’s second visit to the BJP-ruled state after the party’s bypoll victory in Visavadar. He toured state from July 1 to 3 to attend organisational meetings and launch the party’s ‘Gujarat Jodo’ membership drive.
The Visavadar seat in Gujarat’s Junagadh district was won by AAP’s former state president Gopal Italia, who defeated BJP candidate Kirit Patel by 17,554 votes. The AAP leadership described the result as a sign of Kejriwal’s “powerful comeback” to national politics following the party’s defeat in the Delhi Assembly elections. (PTI)
