BackKejriwal ready for Varanasi contest against Modi
The AAP chief will address a rally in Varanasi on 23 March
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Bangalore: Arvind Kejriwal, leader of debutant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), may contest the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat against Narendra Modi, the prime ministerial candidate of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“We have to defeat the BJP’s Narendra Modi," Kejriwal said on Sunday. “I will go to Varanasi on 23 March. We will have a rally in Varanasi. Whatever the people of Varanasi will say, that will be final. If the people of Varanasi decide to give me this responsibility, I will accept it wholeheartedly."
Former Delhi chief minister Kejriwal was addressing a packed audience at Bangalore’s Freedom Park, where he was trying to drum up support for AAP’s Karnataka candidates.
Kejriwal’s remarks came a day after the BJP announced that Modi will contest the Varanasi seat in Uttar Pradesh.
Latest opinion polls have indicated that the BJP, led by Modi, is the frontrunner in the general elections to be held in April-May. The Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance is seeking a third term but has been buffeted by corruption scandals and rising prices.
Kejriwal, a former income-tax official, had earlier said on Twitter that he would address the issue at the Bangalore rally.
“Many people asking me - “will i contest against Modi ji?" I will talk on this issue in today’s rally at Bangalore," Kejriwal wrote in his tweet.
In last year’s Delhi assembly, his maiden electoral contest, Kejriwal defeated Sheila Dikshit, who had been the state’s chief minister for 15 years, in the New Delhi constituency.
On Sunday, Kejriwal launched another scathing attack against Modi, accusing him of being a “crony capitalist" and read out a list of allegedly corrupt ministers from the BJP, including former Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, who might get cabinet positions if Modi is elected Prime Minister in the general elections to be held in April-May.
In a seperate development, industry lobby group News Broadcasters Association on Sunday expressed shock over Kejriwal’s “unsubstantiated" charges against the electronic media and said if the leader and his associates do not exercise caution, it will reconsider coverage of the activities of the party, PTI reported.
Kejriwal, who last week had threatened to put the media in jail for siding with Modi, continued his tirade and challenged newspapers and channels to expose the Modi government’s corruption.
“The question is why is media spreading lies about the so-called progress in Gujarat?" Kejriwal said. “The media does not question Modi...they’re not exposing the truth about Gujarat and the farmer suicides and the collapse of small-scale industries in the state. There is one month left to go for the elections; in this one month, will the media dare to expose the truth about Gujarat and Modi?"
PTI contributed to this report.
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