Gujarat polls: Who will be AAP's CM face? All eyes on these two names

With the announcement of the Gujarat assembly elections schedule by the Election Commission (EC) on Thursday, anticipation for the chief ministerial candidate of contesting political parties grows among the voters.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is likely to repeat its masterstroke of letting the public vote for the CM candidate, which worked well for the party in Punjab. AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal is expected to announce the chief ministerial candidate on Friday, and reports indicate, the battle is now between Isudan Gadhvi and Gopal Italia.

How will the AAP's CM face be nominated?

The party has sought public opinion to choose the CM candidate by sharing a number-6357000360 to which people can give suggestions.

"On this number, you can SMS or send a WhatsApp message or send a voice message. You can also email aapnocm@gmail.com. So, there are four ways for the public to let us know of their choice," said Kejriwal.

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This number will be operational till 5pm on November 3. At present, even though two names are in discussion, according to media reports, Kejriwal is ready for the third option as well.

Who is Isudan Gadhvi?

-Before foraging into politics, Gadhvi was a popular Gujarati journalist and anchor. His 8-9pm show had to be extended by half an hour, till 9:30 pm on popular demand.

-A self-proclaimed “Nayak or victor”, Gadhvi is known for raising his voice for the masses. Aged 40, the AAP leader hails from a financially strong family of farmers in Pipliya village of Dwarka district.

-He belongs to the Other Backward Classes (OBC), which constitute a whopping 48% of the state's population.

-After quitting his job in the media industry on July 1, 2021, he was reportedly approached by the BJP, Congress, and AAP.

-At that time, AAP's Gopal Italia and state in-charge Gulab Singh Yadav met Gadhvi and he finally joined AAP on July 14, 2021.

Things to know about Gopal Italia

-Gopal Italia recently made headlines with his old video in which he purportedly used abusive language against Prime Minister Modi and was taken into police custody.

-Italia, 33, was born in Botad, Gujarat while his parents separated when he was two years old.

-Italia also went through a series of competitive exams and was appointed the Ahmedabad Collectorate in 2016. But a year later he left the job, saying that after dealing with poverty and qualifying for a government job, now he has decided to work for the ordinary people.

-After leaving his job, he joined the Patidar movement in 2017 and later in June 2020 joined the AAP as the state vice president.

Gujarat Assembly election schedule

Polling for Gujarat assembly elections will be held in two phases on December 1 and December 5 and the counting of votes will coincide with that of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls, on December 8.