AAP workers started demanding money, says Kanchan Jariwala after withdrawing nomination from Surat East assembly seat
Nov 16, 2022
Surat (Gujarat) [India], November 16 : Aam Aadmi Party candidate from Gujarat's Surat East, Kanchan Jariwala, on Wednesday said that he withdrew his nominations because the party workers had started demanding money.
The AAP candidate refuted allegations of being kidnapped by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Jariwala further said that he was not capable enough to spend Rs 80 lakh to Rs 1 crore.
"Reason for withdrawing my nomination was that (AAP) workers in Surat (East) Assembly started resigning. The workers started demanding money. I'm not capable enough to spend Rs 80 lakh to Rs 1 crore," Jariwala said.
"There was a lot of pressure from the party. People were harassing me by calling again and again. I went away with my son's friends. There was no one from BJP. What I have to do now, I will tell after five to seven days," he added.
However, the AAP had levelled allegations against the ruling BJP for the forcible withdrawal of papers of his party's Surat East candidate in Gujarat after kidnapping him.
Senior AAP leader and Delhi's deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia accompanied by his supporters later reached the office of Election Commission of India "Nirvachan Sadan" on Ashoka road in New Delhi demanding action in this regard.
Sisodia had also alleged that the BJP "kidnapped" the party's candidate from Gujarat's Surat (East) while also accusing the ruling party of trying to "get his nomination rejected".
Regarding the AAP candidate from Surat East taking back his nomination, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said, "A few weeks ago they said the same thing in Delhi that their MLA has gone. They make such statements to gain media publicity and hide corruption. AAP and Kejriwal have established a new age of lies."
The voting for the Gujarat Assembly elections will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5 while the counting of votes will be done on December 8.
The last dates of withdrawal of nominations are November 17 and 21 for the first and second phases respectively.
