Elections are looming in Gujarat, and in the eye of the storm is 33-year-old Gopal Italia, the state president of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
A towering figure, visibly more than six-feet-tall, his rise to the top has been pretty quick, given that he joined the party about two years ago. His young age has worked in his favour as well, although he says that the party does not consider age as a factor when it allocates responsibilities to its members.
"In this party, age does not decide whether you work in mainstream politics or not. Forget mainstream, at 33 and the party's state chief, appointed by Arvind (Kejriwal) ji. What determines your work for the party is your capacity, your understanding of politics, and your willingness to work," Italia said during his interview for ankahi unfiltered, an interview series on YouTube started the AAP for its members and leaders.
And now, Italia is embroiled in a controversy surrounding a video in which he allegedly made derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
While the video created a furore on social media, it even reached the office of the National Commission of Women (NCW), with Chairperson Rekha Sharma summoning Italia for using "abusive and indecent language" by calling PM Modi "neech aadmi". The NCW chief said his comment was "gender biased, misogynist and condemnable." The Quint tried to contact the NCW and Rekha Sharma for a comment, but they could not be reached.
This, however, is not the first time Italia has landed in controversy. But before we get into more of those, let's get to know a little more about Gopal Italia, his life before politics, his role in the Patidar agitation in Gujarat, and his rise in the Aam Aadmi Party before the state's elections.
Brief Stint in the Gujarat Police
Italia, who got married two years ago, had worked briefly for the Gujarat Police as a constable from 2013 to 2015 after which he resigned.
"I left my job in the police because I always thought that I had the potential to do something big. Being a police officer is great but the platform to do good work is bigger in politics," Italia added during his interview for ankahi unfiltered.
As a policeman, he claims, he took initiatives to teach people about the law. "Being in the police taught me about the law. After I left the force, there was an initiative called 'Kayda Katha' in which I taught people how to file an FIR among other things. We taught people their rights."
Leading the Patidar Agitation
Speaking to The Quint, Nikhil Savani, vice president Of the Aam Aadmi Party Youth Wing-Gujarat, says that Italia's rise in Gujarat politics predates his membership of the AAP.
"When the Patidar andolan started in 2015, Gopalbhai was still a cop. So, he was in the government. But he always felt very strongly about the Patidar reservation cause. After he left the force, he became one of the key leaders of the agitation. During the 2017 elections, he, along with Hardik Patel, was leading the charge against the BJP," Savani adds.
His contributions to the agitation have been disputed by some of his former comrades. For instance, Atul Patel, who was a spokesperson for the agitation, says that Italia did not hold any official post within the movement.
"He was not a member of the core committee. He was neither a spokesperson nor a convenor. He merely visited Hardik Patel a couple of times when the latter was in jail," Patel tells The Quint.
Nevertheless, Italia's contributions, according to Savani, are much more than just his presence during the Patidar agitation.
"During the 2021 Saurashtra floods, Italia was in the water, helping people. He ensured they got food, that they got shifted to safe locations. Gopalbhai even campaigned against unemployment in the state. To say that he is where he is just because of the Patidar agitation is absolutely wrong," Savani asserts.
Leading the AAP in Gujarat
Not long after Italia joined the party in 2020, he was the vice president of Gujarat's AAP unit.
Italia has acknowledged this skill himself. In ankahi unfiltered, he said, "even when I had no experience with politics, I could make good speeches. I've never feared the mic or the stage, whatever the subject has been."
His colleagues say the same thing about him. A source within the AAP told The Quint that Italia's oratory skills help him connect to people in a way that they won't forget him after their first encounter with him. These skills even brought him under the radar of Delhi CM and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal.
In the same of year of him being made the vice president of the Gujarat AAP, he was promoted to the post of president. Under his leadership, the party has won more than two dozen seats in the Surat municipal polls. When asked if Italia is being targeted by the BJP, the source claimed that the BJP's terrible governance in Gujarat has made it insecure, and now that Italia is leading the AAP charge, he is target number one in the upcoming elections.
Additionally, Savani tells The Quint that because the BJP has no issue to campaign on, it is resorting to these tactics, that is, getting Italia embroiled in a fabricated controversy. "We've seen this before, especially in the case of (Manish) Sisodia ji. Every time a leader gets too popular for the BJP to handle, it tries to character-assassinate them."
Given that the launch of the party's Gujarat unit is quite recent, Italia is not the only rising star. 40-year-old Isudan Gadhvi, who is the National Joint General Secretary of the party and a member of its National Executive, is also extremely popular in Gujarat. The fact that both are young, fiery leaders within the party could lead to self-destructive competition, which is probably why someone like Raghav Chadha, who can help avoid this internal tussle, was appointed as the Gujarat election incharge of the AAP.
A Man not Shy of Controversy
This is not the first controversy Italia has found himself in. In fact, he rose to fame because of one. In 2017, he flung a shoe at the then Minister of State for Home Pradipsinh Jadeja, accusing the state government of corruption.
The first shoe Italia threw, according to a Newslaundry report from March 2017, hit the podium. The second shoe was thrown with better aim but the minister, now alert, managed to duck. Security personnel apprehended Italia immediately after.
In the same year, Italia was arrested by the Ahmedabad crime branch because he allegedly pretended to be a police constable after which he called up the Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel. In that conversation, he could be heard (since he circulated the audios of his conversation) complaining about the ineffective implementation of the prohibition law in Gujarat.
He was also jailed for 10 days a few months ago for protesting the alleged leak of a question paper for the head clerk recruitment exam. He was arrested along with 16 other people for engaging in a brawl with BJP workers in front of the party headquarters in Surat.
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