Ahead of Gujarat polls, Kejriwal to hold town hall meeting in Surat

Aam Aadmi Party head Arvind Kejriwal is scheduled to hold a town hall meeting and a press conference on Thursday in Surat city of Gujarat where the Assembly polls are due this year.

The Delhi chief minister arrived here late Wednesday night and said that in the next few weeks, his party would share with the people of Gujarat its agenda on what it plans to do for them if voted to power in the state.

This is his second visit to the state so far this month.

"I visited Gujarat several times in the recent past, and people of the state have given a lot of love. The people of Gujarat are fed up with 27 years of the BJP rule and want a change," Kejriwal said after landing at the Surat airport.

"We have talked to the public about what they want and in the next few weeks, we will put before them our agenda, as to what our agenda will be when voted to power," he said.

Before Kejriwal arrived in the state, the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Gujarat unit chief C R Paatil warned people that they should not get misguided by the "revadi culture" of freebies as it could eventually turn the state and India into Sri Lanka, which is currently going through a severe economic crisis.

Though Paatil did not name anyone, he was apparently targeting the AAP and its national convener Kejriwal, who has promised free electricity if voted to power in Gujarat.

Kejriwal last visited Gujarat on July 3, when he held a town hall on the issue of free electricity in Ahmedabad.

During the interaction with people, he then said free electricity was possible in Gujarat and that he would soon visit the state with a formula on how his party can provide it if voted to power.

Presenting the "Delhi model," he had said free electricity is possible in Gujarat if corruption is eliminated.

The AAP has made free electricity a major poll plank in Gujarat, where polls are due in December.

The party has positioned itself as a major contender in the state, where elections have traditionally seen a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress.