AAP will contest all seats in 2022 Gujarat polls: CM Kejriwal; says BJP and Cong in 'tacit' alliance
Ahmedabad, Jun 14: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will contest all seats in Gujarat in the 2022 Assembly polls, the party's national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said here on Monday as he visited a Vaishnavite temple in the city and blamed the ruling BJP and opposition Congress for the "plight" of people but avoided a direct attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on their home turf.
Addressing a press conference on the campus of the Vallabh Sadan temple after taking darshan of the deity, Kejriwal, who was on a one-day visit to the city, said his party was a credible alternative to the BJP and the Congress in Gujarat who he said had a tacit alliance between them.
"The AAP will contest each and every seat in the 2022 Gujarat Assembly elections. The AAP is a credible alternative to the BJP and Congress. Gujarat will change soon," he said.
The Gujarat House has 182 seats.
"Gujarat is suffering because of this friendship and alliance between the BJP and the Congress. The BJP ruled this state for the last 27 years. I heard people saying that Congress is in the pocket of the BJP. Both the BJP and Congress are the same. This must stop," he said.
Kejriwal said the Congress and the BJP have been in power for most of the period after Independence but "people are witness to what they have done. Farmers are committing suicide even after 75 years".
During the press conference, the former head of a Gujarati news channel, Isudan Gadhvi, joined the AAP in the presence of Kejriwal.
Blaming the BJP and the Congress for the "current situation" of Gujarat, Kejriwal said the common people were left to fend for themselves during the coronavirus pandemic.
Irrespective of tall claims, farmers in Gujarat are committing suicide, government-run schools and hospitals are in shambles and traders are living under fear, he alleged.
"People want to know why the electricity costs are so high in Gujarat when it's free in Delhi? If government-run schools and hospitals are top-class in Delhi then why are they in a bad shape here? Now, the time has come to change Gujarat," the AAP leader said.
When asked if he was proposing to implement the "Delhi model" in Gujarat, Kejriwal said the model of development will be decided by the six crore people of Gujarat.
Queried about his strategy to take on PM Modi and Amit Shah on their home turf of Gujarat, Kejriwal said the AAP will fight for the people of Gujarat and bring a change "instead of fighting against any party or an individual".
After the presser, Kejriwal formally inaugurated the AAP's office also located on Ashram Road.
Monday's is the second visit of Kejriwal to Gujarat. He had last visited Surat in February after his party emerged as the main opposition after the civic body elections in its maiden fight.
The AAP had made inroads into Gujarat politics recently by winning 27 seats in the 120-member Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) where it is the main opposition party.
The Kejriwal-led party had fielded candidates across all the local bodies- municipal corporations, municipalities, and district and taluka panchayats--which went to polls earlier this year and won several seats.
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Rupee falls 28 paise to 94.77 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 28 paise to 94.77 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday as market sentiment took a dramatic turn after reports emerged that the US and Iran are discussing a 14-point Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) aimed at reducing tensions and reopening negotiations.
Forex traders said Brent oil prices, which had fallen to USD 98 on the US-Iran peace deal, edged slightly higher to USD 101 per barrel after investors weighed the prospects for a Middle East peace deal.
Moreover, factors such as unabated foreign capital outflows amid rising geopolitical uncertainties further dented investor sentiment.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 94.77 against the US dollar, registering a fall of 28 paise over its previous close.
On Wednesday, the rupee appreciated 69 paise to close at 94.49 against the US dollar.
"Markets are currently focused on the critical 48-hour window during which the US expects Tehran’s formal response through Pakistani mediators," said CR Forex Advisors MD Amit Pabari.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened Iran with more bombing if it doesn't reopen the Strait of Hormuz, amid a report that the warring sides were nearing an agreement to end the war.
US media outlet Axios reported, quoting US officials and two other sources, that the US and Iran were getting close to a one-page memorandum of understanding to end the war and set a framework for more detailed nuclear negotiations.
The US expects Iranian responses on several key points over the next 48 hours, Axios reported, adding that nothing has been agreed yet. This was the closest the parties had been to an agreement since the war began.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 98.01, down 0.01 per cent.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 0.65 per cent at USD 101.83 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex declined 160.24 points to 77,798.28 in early trade, while the Nifty was down 30.25 points to 24,300.70.
Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs 5,834.90 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
On the domestic macroeconomic front, the country's goods and services exports rose 4.6 per cent to an all-time high of USD 863.11 billion during 2025-26, up from USD 825.26 billion in 2024-25, despite global economic uncertainties, according to revised commerce ministry data.
Merchandise exports grew 0.93 per cent to USD 441.78 billion in the last fiscal year from USD 437.70 billion in 2024-25, the data showed.
