Mehsana: People of Gujarat want a political change and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is the only "medicine" to "cure" the BJP, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal said here on Monday as he raised the pitch for the AAP trying to pose a challenge to the ruling party in the elections due later this year.
Addressing AAP's "Tiranga Yatra" cum roadshow in Mehsana city atop an open vehicle, Kejriwal said the BJP is scared only of his party because it is "honest and patriotic."
He alleged that BJP resorted to hooliganism when people speak against the ruling party.
Kejriwal said thousands of people have told AAP leaders during the "parivartan yatra" -- a three-week statewide mass outreach campaign that covered all the 182 Assembly constituencies-- that they wanted a change in Gujarat.
"Gujarat is looking for a change. Gujarat is fed up with the BJP and its sister Congress. Wherever we went (during the 'parivartan yatra'), everyone knew about the good works done by the AAP government in Delhi," said Kejriwal, flanked by AAP leaders from Gujarat and Mahesh Vasava of ally Bharatiya Tribal Party.
He demanded that the BJP government in Gujarat pay Rs 1 crore to the kin of martyred soldiers hailing from the state along the lines of the AAP government in Delhi.
"During the 'Parivartan Yatra', people told AAP leaders that BJP resorted to hooliganism for speaking against the party. There is no need to be scared. Gujarat is going to bring a change. There is only one medicine to cure the BJP--and that is AAP. The BJP is scared only of AAP and none else," he said. Kejriwal alleged that Gujarat BJP president CR Paatil is "the real chief minister" who is running the government while Bhupendra Patel is the CM only in name.
In his recent address, Paatil had termed Kejriwal a "maha thug" without taking his name.