AAP forms 10-member Gujarat State Election Committee for local body polls

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday announced the formation of a 10-member Gujarat State Election Committee in view of the upcoming local self-government elections in the state.

The announcement was made at a press conference addressed by AAP Gujarat State President Isudan Gadhvi and State Organisation General Secretary Manoj Sorathiya.

According to the party, Isudan Gadhvi has been appointed Chairman of the Gujarat State Election Committee. Speaking at the press conference, Manoj Sorathiya said that the tenure of local self-government institutions in Gujarat is nearing completion and elections are likely to be announced soon. He noted that there is a possibility of the election announcement by the end of March.

Sorathiya also referred to the presentation of the state budget in the Gujarat Assembly on Wednesday and said the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process has been completed. He stated that the new voter list has been published and the process of necessary corrections has also been concluded, indicating that there may not be a prolonged wait for the elections.

The party said it intends to contest the local body polls independently on all seats and that organisational work is underway across the state. With the approval of the party’s National Executive and Political Affairs Committee (PAC), the Gujarat State Election Committee has been constituted. The committee has been formed under the guidance of Arvind Kejriwal, with involvement from Gujarat In-charge Gopal Rai, Co-in-charge Durgesh Pathak and Co-in-charge Gulabsinh Yadav.

The 10-member State Election Committee includes:

• Isudan Gadhvi (Chairman)
• Gopal Italia (MLA)
• Chaitar Vasava (MLA)
• Hemant Khava (MLA)
• Manoj Sorathiya
• Pravin Ram
• Sagar Rabari
• Raju Solanki
• Rakesh Hirpara
• Samat Gadhvi

AAP also announced that it has structured its organisation into seven zones across Gujarat: North Gujarat, Central Gujarat, West Gujarat, Saurashtra Zone-1, Saurashtra Zone-2, South Gujarat and Kutch Zone. Zonal committees will be formed in each region.

These committees will include positions such as Zonal President, Zonal In-charge and Co-in-charge, Lok Sabha In-charge and Co-in-charge, Coordinators, District President, City President, Assembly In-charge and Coordinators.

The party outlined a two-level process for candidate selection and election strategy. In the first stage, zonal committees will scrutinise potential candidates and forward suitable names to the state-level committee.

The state committee will then conduct a detailed review and send the final list to the National Executive and PAC for approval. Candidates will be announced after receiving approval.

During the press conference, Sorathiya described the upcoming local self-government elections as a significant political contest ahead of the 2027 Gujarat Assembly elections. He said the party plans to field candidates in Taluka Panchayat, District Panchayat, Municipality and Municipal Corporation elections.

According to the party, with the formation of the committees, the candidate selection process has commenced, and candidates for all seats are expected to be announced within the next month.