Isudan Gadhvi is an Indian politician and former journalist who is known for being the AAP’s Chief Ministerial candidate for the 2022 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election, which he lost.
Wiki/Biography
Isudan Gadhvi was born on Sunday, 10 January 1982 (age 41 years; as of 2023) in Pipaliya, Gujarat. His zodiac sign is Capricorn. In 2003, he completed his bachelor’s degree in Jamnagar. In 2005, he pursued a master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication at Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 9″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
Gadhvi’s father’s name is Kherajbhai Gadhvi, who was a farmer.
Isudan Gadhvi with his father
His mother’s name is Maniben.
Isudan Gadhvi with his mother
Wife & Children
Isudan is married to Hiral Gadvhi.
Isudan Gadhvi with his wife
Caste
He belongs to OBC.
Career
Journalism
Gadhvi started his career with a Doordarshan show called ‘Yojana’. In 2007, he joined ETV Gujarati as an on-field journalist in Porbandar and worked there till 2011. On ETV, he gained popularity for exposing the Rs. 150 crore scam of illegal deforestation in Dang and Kaparada talukas of Gujarat. While working as an on-field journalist, he worked in various locations in Gujarat including Vapi, Porbandar, Jamnagar, Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. In 2015, he became the youngest channel head in Gujarati media after he joined VTV Gujarati, where he hosted the prime-time TV show Mahamanthan. In the programme, he discussed various social issues with the panellists. The viewership of the show increased to such an extent that the duration was increased from one hour to one and a half hours. Gadhvi earned the names ‘people’s journalist’ or ‘khedut no patrakaar’ (journalist of the rural masses) for discussing farmer’s issues on the show.
Isudan Gadhvi as an anchor on VTV Gujarati
He also conducted a show on weekends to promote Hindu culture on which he discussed topics like ‘Lord Hanuman’s history’, Karma ka Siddhant (principles of Karma), and ‘old-age homes.’
Politics
In June 2021, Gadhvi joined the AAP Party. In June 2022, he was appointed as the National Joint General Secretary of the party. On 4 November 2022, Arvind Kejriwal announced Gadhvi as AAP’s Chief Minister candidate for the 2022 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election.
Isudan Gadhvi with Arvind Kejriwal after being elected as an AAP member
On 8 December 2022, a BJP candidate defeated him in the Gujarat assembly election by 19,000 votes.
Controversies
Attack on Isudan’s convoy
In June 2022, during the ‘Jan Samvad Yatra’ in Junagadh, Gadhvi’s convoy was allegedly attacked by ‘BJP goons.’ Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal demanded Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani filed an FIR and take strict action against the culprits. In a Twitter post, he wrote,
If people like Isudan and Mahesh Bhai are being attacked openly in Gujarat then no one is safe in Gujarat.”
Isudan Gadhvi attacked during Jan Samvad Yatra
Arrested for protesting against a question paper leak
In December 2021, Isudan, along with other AAP leaders, was put in jail for eleven days after he protested at BJP’s headquarters in Gandhinagar against the question paper leak in a recruitment examination.
Accused of drinking liquor during the assembly meeting
In 2022, he was found guilty of attending an unlawful assembly in an inebriated condition. He was booked by Infocity police of Gandhinagar after a forensic science laboratory (FSL) confirmed liquor in his body.
‘Mann Ki Baat’ row
In April 2023, he took to Twitter to make claims that Rs 830 crore of the taxpayers’ money was spent on Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s Mann KI Baat radio programme following which a case was filed against him by the Ahmedabad police for making claims without any concrete evidence against the money spent on the radio programme. Mr. Gadhvi tweeted,
One episode of Mann Ki Baat costs Rs 8.3 crore! Which means that the Centre has spent ₹ 830 crore on 100 episodes so far. This is too much. BJP workers should register their protest, because mostly they listen to this programme.”
Facts/Trivia
- Gadhvi actively helped people during the COVID-19 pandemic. In an interview, he shared his experience of why he started helping people during the pandemic and said that once he saw a woman standing outside the hospital holding a body who was not given permission to enter the hospital because she did not use the government ambulance. Gadhvi got really angry and revealed the number of ambulance officers in public. In the interview, he further added,
The officer got 10,000 calls on his mobile. He went to the high court for reprieve. It was after that incident that I started thinking that I had to do something beyond journalism.”
- In 2021, when he joined AAP, Arvind Kejriwal talked about him and said,
It is a huge sacrifice of a promising career to clean the mess that the ruling party, together with the Congress, had created in Gujarat. Gadhvi has left a plum career for AAP…You can bring a change from outside the system, but there is a limitation to this. So, Gadhvi decided to join the system and clean the mess.”
Talking about this, Isudan said,
I joined the media to serve people and the people of Gujarat liked me. I found that by remaining in the media industry, I can serve only a few people, so I left the industry and joined politics so that I can work for large number of people.”
- After being chosen as the candidature of AAP in Gujarat, he said that he would work on issues like debt waiver for farmers, a guarantee of fair prices, uninterrupted power supply, and irrigation facilities. Secondly, he would work on setting up an anti-corruption helpline in Delhi and Punjab. Thirdly, he announced free electricity for everyone in Gujarat up to 300 units a month.
- In 2021, he criticized the Jan Ashirwad campaign started by BJP and said that it was an insult to people who died during the pandemic. Criticizing BJP’s negligence during the pandemic, he said,
The BJP has been in power in Gujarat for the past two-and-a-half decades… lakhs of people in Gujarat died of Covid owing to lack of oxygen, medicines, hospital beds and policies such as no admission in hospitals without ambulance support. But the government had hidden the figures…. At the time when people were running from pillar to post for medicines and oxygen cylinders, none of these BJP leaders answered their phone calls… worse, they switched off their mobile phones or gave rude reply to people asking for help.”
- In 2021, he demanded an apology from the Gujarat Chief Minister for the demolition of the Ramdev Peer temple in Surat city by the BJP.
- In an interview, he said that he only once smoked tobacco while he was studying in college. In another interview, he said, he is a teetotaler.
- In another interview, he said that if his party came to power, he would work as a politician for ten years and then retire.
- Gadhvi describes himself as ‘Nayak’ from an Anil Kapoor starrer Bollywood film.