Kanu Kalsariya joins AAP

A general surgeon from Bhavnagar,Kalsariya has been the face of farmers’ agitation in Gujarat who also caused a lot of embarrassment to the Narendra Modi-led Gujarat Government through his pro-farmer agitations across the state.

During his address,Kalsariya admitted that he was about to join the Congress party before this. “But,God saves people who follow the path of truth. And he saved me too. And after witnessing overwhelming response to AAP in Delhi Assembly elections,I decided to join the party after consulting my supporters and well-wishers.”

Kalsariya further said that he was disappointed by both Congress and BJP,but there was no other political option available. “The Delhi elections have proved that we can bring in a third political option of clean and corruption-free politics. And when AAP has got so much response from public,it was necessary for (like minded) people to strengthen it,to nurture it across the country. And therefore,I have joined the party,” Kalsariya said.

He also said that he had been in contact with Arvind Kejriwal,the AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister,in past also and had always admired his views. When asked if he would fight Lok Sabha election against BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi,Kalsariya said,“That is an imaginative situation. I have joined the AAP and will do anything that the party asks me to do.”

In the 2012 Assembly elections,Kalsariya fought elections under the banner of his group named Sadbhavna Manch from Gariadhar constituency of Bhavnagar. Though,he lost badly to a BJP candidate from the seat.

However,the BJP is playing down the report of Kalsariya joining the AAP. Vijay Rupani,Chairman of Gujarat Municipal Finance Board,who visited Vadodara on Wednesday to meet officials of the Municipal Councils and Corporations in the district,said that Kalsariya’s joining AAP was of no consequence to the BJP as the people had already rejected him in the December 2012 Assembly elections,in which he fought as an independent. “Kalsariya had left the BJP long back and is now joining AAP because people did not vote for him in the Assembly elections.”

Ex-IAS officer joins AAP

A retired IAS officer of Gujarat-cadre,A M Bhardwaj,also joined the AAP at the same function. Bhardwaja,a 1969-batch IAS officer,had retired from the Gujarat Government in 2006 as director general of Mahatma Gandhi Labour Institute.

Talking to The Indian Express,Bhardwaj said,“I am not against any individual,but the system. In my long career,I have experienced that earlier the governments were not vindictive. One used to have job satisfaction which was not the case in the later governments.” Bhardwaj added that he joined the party to help change the system.