Gujarat Assembly polls | Two prominent Patidar leaders and others join the Aam Aadmi Party

Alpesh Kathiriya and Dharmik Malaviya, co-convenors of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, are welcomed by Arvind Kejriwal in a major boost to the AAP

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and other party leaders during a public meeting, in Bhavnagar district, on October 30, 2022. | Photo Credit: PTI

In a major boost to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), two prominent leaders of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) that spearheaded the Patidar quota agitation in the State in 2015 — Alpesh Kathiriya and Dharmik Malaviya — joined the party ahead of the Assembly polls in the presence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann in Gariadhar of Bhavnagar district on Sunday.

Both Mr. Kathiriya and Mr. Malaviya are conveners of PAAS and are based in Surat. Mr. Kathiriya was the main face of PAAS in Surat and was jailed by the State police. He faced as many as 22 cases, including charges of sedition, and was jailed for 14 months before he was granted bail.

Apart from being a co-convener of PAAS, Mr. Malaviya is also the president of the Surat unit of the Khodaldham Trust, an influential Patidar socio-religious group in Gujarat.

Moreover, a leading Other Backward Class (OBC) leader, Raju Solanki from Bhavnagar, and a few local Congress leaders and workers, also joined the AAP on Sunday, giving a boost to the new party ahead of the Assembly polls.

“All of us will have to come forward in this struggle for the community, for our pride, for the nation, for better education, health and corruption-free good governance. Your support is required,” Mr. Kathiriya said in his address at the election rally following his induction into the AAP.

He added that only the AAP could provide a corruption-free government and focus on health, education, welfare and self-respect from all the people of the State.

Both PAAS leaders have pledged to strengthen the AAP in Surat, where it gained entry in 2020 after making headway in the municipal elections in the city.

After inducting Mr. Kathiriya and others, Mr. Kejriwal said, “I welcome Kathiriya and Malaviya in AAP. Both are youth leaders, and the future of India is in the hands of youth. They are struggling leaders who fought a long battle for the rights of youths and went to jail.”

On Sunday, the Delhi Chief Minister addressed two rallies in the Saurashtra region and said that the AAP was sure to form the next government in the State.

Mr. Kejriwal repeated his charge that the both the BJP and the Congress play a fixed match in Gujarat and only AAP could provide a real alternative in the State where the BJP has been in power since 1998.