Winning 5 seats, 13% votes in Gujarat was like milking an ox: Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday called his party's foray into Gujarat, a BJP bastion for years, an unprecedented success, and said winning five seats there was as difficult as milking an ox.

Addressing the party's national executive and national council meeting, the Delhi Chief Minister also asserted that the AAP is sure it will dislodge the BJP from power in Gujarat and form its government there in 2027, as it did in Punjab earlier this year.

The Aam Aadmi Party had won five seats in its latest campaign in Gujarat with about 13 per cent vote share.

"Recently someone told me that I have returned milking ox from Gujarat. This is very difficult (to win seats in Gujarat). Everyone can milk the cow, but we have indeed milked the ox by winning five seats and securing 14 per cent vote share in the assembly polls," Kejriwal said, as he congratulated party workers on the achievement.

Kejriwal thanked the people of Gujarat too for reposing faith in his party's vision and ideology.

The Aam Aadmi Party formed its government in Punjab in its second foray in the state. "Don't worry, we will certainly form our government in Gujarat also in 2027," Kejriwal added.

In 2017, the AAP had contested 29 of 182 assembly seats in Gujarat elections and 112 of 117 assembly seats in Punjab elections.

While the AAP had suffered a miserable defeat in Gujarat then with all its 29 candidates losing their deposits, the party won 20 seats in Punjab to become the main opposition party in the state.

On the 2022 Gujarat assembly polls, Kejriwal said the biggest takeaway from the party's foray into the BJP stronghold was that it became eligible for getting the national party status by the Election Commission.

"Perhaps, AAP is the only party which came to power in Delhi within a year of its formation, formed the government in another state, Punjab, within 10 years, and now became a national party," he said.

The AAP's spectacular rise within such a short span of time is due to our ideology and work, he added.

"Die hard patriotism, die hard honesty, and humanity are the three pillars of our ideology," Kejriwal said, as he accused the BJP, without naming it, of following the ideology of "goondaism, hooliganism, and misbehaving with women."

And, corruption is the ideology of "another party", he said in veiled reference to the Congress.

Kejriwal said there are several national parties but the BJP, Congress, and the AAP are the three "national parties" which occupies a space in the mind of people.

But the AAP stands out among all of the national parties due to its "ideology and vision," he claimed.

"People of the country are pinning hopes on the AAP because we are working for them and the country ? Unlike other parties hurling abuses on each other and calling one demon and the other Ravan, we talk about real public issues, building schools, hospitals, providing jobs," he said.

Outlining his party's vision, Kejriwal said AAP wants to turn India a hub of affordable quality education, a destination for best healthcare services in the world, and a global leader in the area of science and technology.

"I do not want to just eradicate poverty. I want to make every person in India rich," he said.

The AAP is "the vehicle" to bring change and make India a nation where nobody fights over religion and caste, he said.

"I pray to god that the vision of such an India is achieved soon," he said, adding that the god has picked AAP to bring such a change.

Kejriwal also exhorted his party leaders and workers to continue working "for the nation and the society" with complete dedication.