With just few weeks remaining for the Gujarat elections, the Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday announced that its chief ministerial candidate - Isudan Gadhvi - will be contesting from the "holy land of Lord Krishna". The 40-year will be fielded by the party - looking at the expansion of its national footprint - from Jam Khambhalia in the Devbhumi Dwarka district.
"Isudan Gadhvi, who has been raising his voice for many years for farmers, unemployed youth, women and businessmen, will contest elections from Khambhalia. From the holy land of Lord Krishna, Gujarat will get a new and efficient chief minister," Arvind Kejriwal wrote in his tweet in Hindi.
In response to the post, Gadhvi expressed gratitude towards Arvind Kejriwal. "The faith that you and the people of Gujarat have placed on me... I assure that I will serve the people of Gujarat till my last breath," he wrote in the tweet, loosely translated from Hindi.
Jam Khambhalia is in the Devbhumi Dwarka District, which was carved out of Jamnagar district in August 2013. The district - as per a government website - consists of four talukas : Khambhalia, Kalyanpur, Dwarka and Bhanvad. “The name Devbhumi Dwarka is derived from the famous Dwarkadhish Temple of Dwarka city which is one of the four holy places according to Hindu mythology," reads the website - devbhumidwarka.nic.in.
As per the Hindu mythology, Lord Krishna had settled in Dwarka - which literally means "gateway to heaven" - after defeating and killing his uncle Kansa in Mathura. As a pilgrim centre, it attracts a large number of devotees from across the nation. Dwarka is believed to have been the first capital of Gujarat, as per the website. It has several important key shrines, including those dedicated to Rukmini Devi Temple, Gomti Ghat, and Bet Dwarka.
{{/usCountry}}As per the Hindu mythology, Lord Krishna had settled in Dwarka - which literally means "gateway to heaven" - after defeating and killing his uncle Kansa in Mathura. As a pilgrim centre, it attracts a large number of devotees from across the nation. Dwarka is believed to have been the first capital of Gujarat, as per the website. It has several important key shrines, including those dedicated to Rukmini Devi Temple, Gomti Ghat, and Bet Dwarka.
{{/usCountry}}After conducting a poll, in line with its Punjab poll strategy, the AAP had declared Gadhvi as its CM candidate earlier this month. Before he joined politics, Gadhvi was a popular journalist. He hails from a financially strong family of farmers in Pipliya village of Dwarka district, and belongs to the Other Backward Classes (OBC), which constitute a whopping 48 per cent of the state population.
The AAP is pitching itself as the key challenger to the ruling BJP in Gujarat, which has voted for the same party for over two decades. The state votes in two phases on December 1 and December 5; votes will be counted on December 8.