Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], January 18 : Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Gopal Italia on Sunday accused the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) of obstructing a scheduled private event for his party in Gujarat by threatening the owner of the plot they had booked, which led to the cancellation of the program. He claimed that the BJP was turning to dictatorship in the state.
Speaking to mediapersons here, Italia stated that today's program was to be attended by AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and several party workers, and they have been making efforts to make this event a success.
Detailing their preparations, he said, "We booked a private party plot, even informed the police of the same, and informed the party workers."
Italia further alleged that the BJP pressured the owner not to lend the plot for the program, saying that the latter had "resorted to draconian tactics".
"All our arrangements were in place, but since last night, the BJP resorted to its draconian tactics. They threatened the owner of the venue we had booked, against renting it to us"
He shared the alleged copy of the receipt they received after booking the plot as evidence that the interactive program was going to take place.
Along with that, Italia announced that a private farmhouse belonging to a party worker has been selected as the new venue for the event, and all discussions will take place there.
Taking his accusations further, he said, "BJP is resorting to dictatorship in Gujarat."
The AAP national convener is on a three-day visit to Gujarat.
During the visit, he also targeted BJP, alleging, "For the last 30 years, the BJP has been ruling Gujarat. In these 30 years, the BJP pushed Gujarat into a ditch. There is fear and corruption everywhere. They scare and threaten people who raise their voices against them, against injustice; they are jailed. They do corruption openly. Nobody can raise a voice against their corruption."
"People are looking at AAP with great hope. In the last 6-7 months, AAP has been conducting rallies across the entire state of Gujarat. People are turning up in large numbers. We don't even have money; ours is a poor party. But people are coming to AAP rallies at their own expense...I am here on a 3-day visit. I will speak with volunteers and form a strategy," he added.