Arvind Kejriwal launches three-day ‘Jhadu Chalao Yatra' in Uttar Pradesh

New Delhi: Activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal launched a three-day ‘Jhadu Chalao Yatra’ on Saturday in India’s most politically crucial state, Uttar Pradesh with an eye on 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

The roadshow began from Kaushambi and will proceed to Ghaziabad, Pilkhuwa, Hapur, Amroha, Moradabad, Rampur, Bareilly, Shahjahanpur and Hardoi. Former Delhi chief minister Kejriwal is also expected to address a rally in Kanpur, where he will also meet leaders from the business community and social organisations. On March 3, the poll campaign will cover Auraiya, Etawah, Firozabad, Agra, Mathura and Palwal.

Uttar Pradesh, which is home to 200 million, provides the biggest single bloc of seats in Parliament. The state has a total of 80 Lok Sabha constituencies allotted to it. Being the largest Indian state in terms of number of seats, it holds a deciding position in the context of the vital general polls.

All major parties have traditionally sought to exploit religious and caste loyalties to win votes in UP, where the BJP won only 10 seats in the last national ballot in 2009 and is believed to need around 40 to have a chance nationally.

In 2008, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party won the maximum seats followed by the Congress, the BSP and the BJP.

AAP has fielded senior leader Kumar Vishwas against Rahul Gandhi in Amethi. Media reports are also doing rounds that the party will also field Shazia Ilmi to contest against Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli.

A former tax collector who heads the fledgling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has shook up the political landscape with promises to change a rotten system, just months before the national elections.

The AAP's meteoric rise forced the main parties, with an eye on the coming election, to adopt some of its anti-elite, anti-corruption language and measures.

The AAP plans to contest at least 350 of the 543 seats at stake in the Lok Sabha and has promised to field strong candidates against a string of high-ranking politicians Kejriwal described as corrupt.