AAP candidate Kanchan Jariwala who withdrew his nomination has now given a fresh reason for taking the step. He said AAP workers in Surat (East) Assembly started resigning and that the workers were demanding money. Jariwala said he was not capable enough to spend Rs 80 lakh to Rs 1 crore. "Their demand was so much that I couldn't fulfil it," Jariwala said.
Earlier in the evening Jariwala had cleared the air on his kidnapping by issuing a video statement in which he purportedly said he withdrew his nomination without any pressure and by listening to his conscience after the people of his constituency labelled him "anti-national" and "anti-Gujarat" for contesting the election from the AAP and threatened not to support him.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday, November 11, claimed that one of his AAP candidates for Gujarat polls has been kidnapped. He took to Twitter to make this startling claim.
Amid these allegations, under heavy police protection Kanchanbhai Jariwala appeared before the returning officer R B Bhogayata this morning.
The returning officer has confirmed to media that Kanchanbhai has withdrawn his candidature from Surat East. Deputy Commissioner of Police Sagar Bagmar denied receiving any complaint of kidnapping. He also confirmed that the candidate has voluntarily withdrawn his candidature.
Kejriwal's tweeted in the morning about the candidate being kidnapped
"Our candidate from Surat (East), Kanchan Jariwala, and his family missing since yesterday. First, BJP tried to get his nomination rejected. But his nomination was accepted. Later, he was being pressurised to withdraw his nomination. Has he been kidnapped?" Kejriwal had tweeted in the morning.
Raghav Chadha claimed that BJP kidnapped the leader
Raghav Chadha, the national spokesman for the AAP and a member of the Rajya Sabha, accused the BJP of kidnapping Jariwala and transporting him to an undisclosed place.
The Deputy CM of Delhi spoke to the media and claimed that the BJP is lossing the elections
This morning, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia told the media, "The BJP is losing badly in this Assembly election and so is fuming and fretting. It has kidnapped Kanchan Jariwala".
Sisodia said that Jariwala was last seen at the RO office on Tuesday. They (BJP) tried to get his nomination rejected. Later, he was pressured to withdraw his nomination. This raises questions on the election commission also, he said.
"Kanchan and his family have been missing since yesterday. He went to the office to get his nomination paper scrutinised. As soon as he came out after the scrutiny, BJP goons took him away from there. Since then his whereabouts are not known", Deputy CM claimed.
Sisodia term the kidanapping dangerous for democracy
Terming it "dangerous" for democracy, he said that the Election Commission is known for conducting fair elections. If a candidate has been kidnapped, how will the fair election be held", he asked.
"This is not that the AAP candidate has been kidnapped but the democracy has been hijacked", he said.
"I am Going to the Central Election Commission right now. In Gujarat, BJP got AAP candidate Kanchan Jariwala kidnapped from Surat East on the basis of goons and then got the nomination withdrawn on the basis of police. In such a situation, what is the point of the election then?" he had said in a tweet.
(With inputs from agencies)
