The Congress will get fewer than five seats in Gujarat, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal declared Saturday. Speaking at a media conclave hosted by India Today in the national capital, the AAP boss panned his rival's chances ahead of next month's polls and asked 'who takes the Congress seriously'.
"The people of Gujarat need change. If people did not want change, we would not have got any space. We are getting a 30 per cent vote share. We formed a government in Punjab. There is something different in Gujarat as well," he said.
"In Gujarat, Congress will win less than 5 seats. We are number two," Kejriwal said, handing over - quite dramatically - a scrap of paper with that prediction.
He made a similarly dramatic showing at a NDTV event where he refused to predict the BJP's tally. "Remaining predictions will be made another day."
Earlier today a pre-poll survey by ABP News - C-Voter gave the ruling BJP yet another win in prime minister Narendra Modi's home state.
READ | Gujarat election 2022: BJP to win another term, AAP to beat Cong
{{/usCountry}}READ | Gujarat election 2022: BJP to win another term, AAP to beat Cong
{{/usCountry}}Over half the nearly 23,000 respondents said they planned to vote for the BJP. Twenty per cent favoured the AAP and 17 per cent the Congress.
In a state that usually sees a BJP v Congress fight, the suggestion that the AAP could replace the Congress as the primary opposition party has raised eyebrows.
Kejriwal's party on Friday declared former TV news anchor and social activist Isudan Gadhvi as its chief ministerial candidate, after a 'poll' of the public similar to the exercise that named Bhagwant Mann as the CM face in Punjab.
READ | ‘If you want to clean rot…’: AAP's Isudan Gadhvi on what Kejriwal said
Gujarat will vote in two phases - on December 1 and December 5. Results will be released on December 8 - with those from (also) BJP-ruled Himachal Pradesh.