Ahmedabad: Former popular Gujarati TV anchor Isudan Gadhvi, 40, has been named the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) chief ministerial face for the December 2022 Gujarat elections, as the party decides to opt for an OBC and not a Patidar candidate for the post.
Born on January 10, 1982, in a village in Saurashtra region’s Devbhumi Dwarka district, Gadhvi’s “Mahamanthan” news programme was a major hit among the rural masses and often forced the State Government to take action on various issues.
What Gadhvi brings as a CM candidate
Being from a rural background and representing an OBC community, Gadhvi brings with him a combination of rustic rigour of a villager, a grassroots perspective of an investigative TV journalist and a certain sensitivity that is imbibed as a student of the Gujarat Vidyapeeth, set up by Mahatma Gandhi in 1920.
After completing his journalism studies from the Gujarat Vidyapeeth, he worked with a government publication Yojana and Doordarshan before he joined the VTV Gujarati. He was an aggressive TV reporter in Porbandar in Saurashtra before he moved to Ahmedabad.
Joined AAP in June 2021
Gadhvi joined the AAP in June last year and was not given any designation for quite some time, while he had insisted he didn’t take any post. Sources said AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal had identified him early on as the potential chief ministerial face. On the face of it, AAP carried out an opinion poll of sorts for the most acceptable CM face and Gadhvi won hands down with 73% of the 18 lakh people who cast their vote.
There was also speculation that Gujarat AAP president Gopal Italia could be the CM face given that he is a Patidar and a key player in getting the party as many as 27 seats to emerge as the principal opposition party in the Surat Municipal Corporation elections last year.
Majority of those who won were Patidars from the Varachha region in Surat, which has a huge majority of Patels from Saurashtra. AAP sources said Italia is a bit too boyish for that post but better for the party organisation, while Gadhvi has the maturity to be projected for the chief ministerial position and isn’t really an organisation man.
AAP suffers setback
However, the AAP suffered a setback hours after Gadhvi was declared the CM face with veteran Congress leader and former MLA from Rajkot Indranil Rajyaguru quitting the party to rejoin his alma mater, the Congress.
Rajyaguru had quit the Congress over the “indecisive leadership” of the party and had kept away from active politics before he joined the AAP. He says he quit AAP because he realised "there isn’t much difference between the AAP and the BJP.”
Who is Isudan Gadhavi?
Isudan was born on 10 Jan 1982 in Pipaliya village near Jamkhambhaliya town in Devbhoomi Dwarka district of Gujarat. His father is Kherajbhai Gadhvi, a farmer by profession.
Isudan Gadhvi, after completing his graduation with Masters in Journalism and Mass Communication from Gujarat Vidyapeeth in 2005 worked as media person for media platforms.
He was associated with Doordarshan's program 'Yojana'. Later he joined ETV Gujarati where he unearthed the of Rs.150 crore scam of illegal trees cutting in Dang and Kaprada taluka of Gujarat. The sensational report forced the Gujarat government to spring into action. He shot to fame after the explosive news report.
In 2015, Isudan Gadhvi took charge of VTV Gujarati at a young age of 32. He anchored a TV show called 'Mahamanthan'. The show became immensly popular in rural Gujarat that boosted his public profile.
Isudan Ghadhavi in AAP
Isudan Gadhvi joined the AAP Party in June 2021. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal felicitated him in Ahmedabad to inaugurate AAP's headquarters. Kejriwal mentioned it as a “huge sacrifice of a promising career to clean the mess that the ruling party, together with the Congress, had created in Gujarat.” He added, “Gadhvi has left a plum career for AAP. You can bring a change from outside the system, but there is a limitation to this. So, Gadhvi decided to join the system and clean the mess.”
AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal had a dial-a-choice to address the bickering over the party’s CM nominee. The candidate were named on the basis of opinion submitted to the party by the people of the state.
Apart from Gadhavi, state unit president Gopal Italia, and general secretary Manoj Soratihya were in the fray.
Isudan in controversy
The Infocity police station in Gandhinagar had arrested Gadhvi for allegedly drinking of liquor during the clash between AAP and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at Kamalam in Koba on December 20, 2021. He was held later on January 4, 2022 after a confirmed forensic science laborator (FSL) report of his blood sample.
