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Man who invited Kejriwal for dinner says he’s a ‘fan of Modi’

Visuals of Kejriwal eating dinner with the driver, Vikram Dattani, at the latter’s residence on September 13 had been shared widely on social media. Dattani had invited the Delhi chief minister to dinner during a townhall meeting earlier that day.

Published on: Oct 1, 2022, 24:04:10 IST
By , Ahmedabad
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A political controversy broke out in poll-bound Gujarat on Friday when an autorickshaw driver who had dinner with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal two weeks ago was spotted proclaiming his support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Ahmedabad.

Autorickshaw driver who had dinner with Arvind Kejriwal was spotted proclaiming his support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (PTI)
Autorickshaw driver who had dinner with Arvind Kejriwal was spotted proclaiming his support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (PTI)

Visuals of Kejriwal eating dinner with the driver, Vikram Dattani, at the latter’s residence on September 13 had been shared widely on social media. Dattani had invited the Delhi chief minister to dinner during a townhall meeting earlier that day.

On Friday however, Dattani was spotted at PM Modi’s rally in the city. Donning a saffron cap and scarf, he told reporters he is a “big fan” of PM Modi and the BJP. He added that the dinner invitation to Kejriwal was a “pre-planned” move and that he was following the advice of the autorickshaw union at the time.

The BJP’s state unit hit out at Kejriwal saying they had tried to lure Dattani with money. “Vikram bhai says that Kejriwal’s men had lured him by talking about money, but he is a fan of Modiji since childhood,” said Zubin Ashara, state BJP’s media co-incharge.

The AAP’s state unit hit back saying that the BJP’s earlier criticism of the Kejriwal’s dinner had proven baseless.

The party’s state general secretary, Manoj Sorathiya, said, “One thing has become clear today. The allegations made earlier that the autorickshaw driver was an AAP worker and that it was all pre-planned were baseless. Today, he (Dattani) has admitted that he innocently invited Kejriwal and the AAP national convener got emotional and went to his house.”

He claimed that BJP was trying its best to “defame” and “demonise” AAP at any cost.

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