Isudan Gadhvi is an Indian politician and former journalist who is known for being selected as the party’s Chief Ministerial candidate for the 2022 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election.
Wiki/Biography
Isudan Gadhvi was born on Sunday, 10 January 1982 (age 40 years; as of 2022) in Pipaliya, Gujarat. 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 Vidyapeeth, 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
Journalist
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. Later, he gained a lot of popularity for exposing the Rs. 150 crore scam of illegal deforestation in Dang and Kaparada talukas of Gujarat on his show. 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 used to discuss various social issues with the panellists. The viewership of the show increased so much that the duration was increased from one hour to one and a half hours. Gadhvi was known by the names ‘people’s journalist’ or ‘khedut no patrakaar’ (journalist of the rural masses) because he mostly used to discuss 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 where he used to discuss 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, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced Gadhvi as AAP’s Chief Minister candidate for the 2022 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election.
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 to file 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
Isudan put behind the bar
In December 2021, Isudan along with other AAP leaders was put in jail for eleven days after they protested against the question paper leak in a recruitment examination at BJP’s headquarters in Gandhinagar.
Facts/Trivia
- Gadhvi made a big contribution to helping 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, chief minister 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.”
Isudan Gadhvi with Arvind Kejriwal after being elected as a AAP member
- After being chosen as the candidature of AAP in Gujarat, he said that he would work on issues like debt waiver for the farmers, a guarantee of fair prices, uninterrupted power supply, and irrigation facilities. Secondly, he would work on setting up an anti-corruption helpline on the lines of Delhi and Punjab. Third, he would announce free electricity for everyone up to 300 units a month.
- In 2021, he criticized the Jan Aashirwad 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 used to smoke cigarettes while he was studying in college.
- 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-starred Bollywood film.
- 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.