Amid high-voltage drama, Aam Admi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Friday shot off 16 questions challenging BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s claims of development in Gujarat, but was prevented by the police from meeting the latter “without prior appointment”.
On the third day of his “appraisal tour” of Gujarat, the AAP leader, who was said to have been in Jamnagar, suddenly called reporters in Ahmedabad this morning and announced he was proceeding to Gandhinagar to submit a 16-point memorandum to Modi.
The Kejriwal team is on a four-day Gujarat visit to gather information about development. Its volunteers fanned out to different areas of the State to gather information which Kejriwal is expected to highlight at a public meeting in Ahmedabad on Saturday. Some people have been protesting against AAP leaders’ visits and vehicles of Kejriwal and his associate Manish Sisodia were attacked on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Kejriwal was also detained by the police at Radhanpur in Patan district for alleged violation of model code of conduct on March 5.
On Friday, while on his way to Gandhinagar, the former Delhi CM was stopped by police near Sargasan village, 5 km from the Chief Minister’s official residence in Gandhinagar, where a large crowd gathered. Sisodia, escorted by police, later went to the CM’s office seeking an appointment but was refused. When he returned, some BJP workers waved black flags. Former BJP Minister Jainarayan Vyas described the whole incident as “nautanki”.
“Mr Modi’s secretary has not given the appointment as he has pre-scheduled meetings today,” Sisodia said after returning from the state secretariat. Kejriwal had earlier stated that if he was not given an appointment today, he would seek time for a later date.