Gujarat election results: 'People's journalist' Isudan Gadhvi fails to strike chord with the masses

Isudan Gadhvi bagged the maximum votes during an opinion poll by his party to emerge as Aam Aadmi Partys chief ministerial face in Gujarat Assembly polls but failed to garner enough votes to make his and his partys debut in Gujarat politics eventfulGadhvi who contested from Khambhalia seat lost to BJPs Ayar Mulubhai Hardasbhai Bera who polled 10 per cent more votes than the AAP leaderAAP was leading in just five of the 182 assembly seats in the state where polling was held in two phases on December 1 and 5Gadhvi the 40yearold journalistturnedpolitician entered politics just a year back in June 2021 and joined AAP answering its call for change after 27 years of uninterrupted BJP rule in the stateHe was appointed as the partys national joint general secretary and was declared as AAPs CM candidate by party chief Arvind Kejriwal in November this year AAP had asked people to submit their opinion to the party through social media SMS and emails on who should be the partys CM candidate More than 70 per cent respondents expressed their opinion in favour of GadhviAlso Read Gujarat rejected politics of appeasement and hollow promises Amit ShahDuring the monthlong whirlwind election campaign Gadhvi was the partys star campaigner along with Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh MannDuring the campaign Gadhvi spoke of his being the son of a farmer and also of AAPs promise of bijli pani and daam power water and remunerative prices for produce to win the support of the agrarian communityBut this failed to strike a chord with the voters who were unwilling to trust someone sans experience in politics or administrationThe AAP failed to woo enough support to win the elections but hogged Congress vote share in several places leading to the victory of BJP candidates in close contest seatsThe Kejriwalled party now has an opportunity to replicate the Punjab experiment where it came to power in the second attempt after a failed first attemptFor Gadhvi remaining relevant and emerging as a peoples leader would be the real challenge a political observer saidThe challenge before Gadhvi would be to build a solid cadre base of the party at the booth and block level to take on the welloiled election machinery of the BJP and the Congress in the stateHis previous avatar as a famous television anchor and journalist helped him easily connect with the masses during the poll campaignA native of Pipaliya village of Devbhumi Dwarka district Gadhvi was born into a family of farmers He belongs to the Other Backward Class OBC community which accounts for 48 per cent of the states populationGadhvi started his career as a journalist with a local news channel around 17 years ago after acquiring a degree in journalism from the Gujarat Vidyapith a deemed university in Ahmedabad founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1920He started his career as a journalist in Doordarshan before shifting to a channel in Porbandar During this tenure he did some investigative stories against illegal deforestation which brought him to the limelight In 2015 he took up the job of channel head of another Gujarati news channel VTV Gujarati in AhmedabadHe was also the anchor of a show called MahaManthan which became extremely popular among rural masses as Gadhvi used to take up issues related to agriculture and farmers prominentlyHe was also known for his aggressive anchoring style and his onscreen personality helped him gain immense popularity among people His criticising the administrative system and the government while debating key issues and seeking accountability earned him praise among peopleThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever