Lucknow: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday faced protest from alleged BJP supporters during his day-long visit to Varanasi where he announced that he would fight against Narendra Modi for the Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh.
He also challenged the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate to an open debate on various issues and said that if the Mr Modi shied away from his proposal, it would mean that he has something to hide.
Eggs were thrown at Mr Kejriwal’s car outside the Kashi Vishwanath temple, apparently by supporters of the BJP, he was also heckled by the protesters who called him a ‘traitor’ and shouted slogans asking him to leave Varanasi. Protesters showed him black flags throughout his stay in the holy city.
Black ink was also thrown at Mr Kejriwal and his associates, Ma-nish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, during a road show in Lahurabir area in Varanasi. AAP leader Sanjay Singh alleged that the protests were being held at the behest of Narendra Modi and were designed to scare away AAP form the contest.
Earlier, Mr Kejriwal took a holy dip in the Ganga River after which he said he was ‘pained’ to see the pollution in the holy river which was a result of corruption in society. Later addressing a motley crowd of about 6,000- 7,000 supporters at the Beniabagh ground, he asked them if he should contest the polls form Varanasi and asked them to raise their hands. As the hands went up, he announced that he would contest the seat.
He said that he had no money and the people would have to donate for his campaign. Speaking at the rally, Mr Kejriwal said that he was not keen to become a Member of Parliament and was not lusting for power. “If I wanted to become MP, I would have chosen a safe seat. Victory or defeat is not important, it is the need to challenge the system that has brought me here,” he said.
The AAP leader said that he was not perturbed by the protests that were sponsored by the BJP which was feeling unnerved at his arrival in the city.
