Bangalore: Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal today said he will contest against Narendra Modi from Varanasi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections if the people want him to. Mr Kejriwal will hold a rally in the holy town in Uttar Pradesh on March 23.
"I will go to Varanasi on March 23. We will have a rally in Varanasi. Whatever people of Varanasi will say that will be final. If people of Varanasi decide to give me this responsibility, I will accept it wholeheartedly," Mr Kejriwal announced at a rally at Bangalore's Freedom Park ground this evening.
"There was meeting within the party. The party told me that I have to fight elections against Narendra Modi," he added.
Yesterday, Mr Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, was picked as the party's Lok Sabha candidate from the Varanasi seat, which is currently being held by his senior colleague Murli Manohar Joshi.
The AAP has, in the last few weeks, dropped strong hints that Mr Kejriwal may fight Mr Modi if the latter contests from Varanasi, or anywhere outside Gujarat. Party leader Yogendra Yadav had, in fact, told NDTV that Mr Kejriwal "would be looking at where Mr Modi is contesting." Earlier, his colleague Manish Sisodia had also said, "Mr Kejriwal will ask Modi questions from Varanasi."
Mr Kejriwal, who resigned as the chief minister of Delhi after just 49 days in power, has so far remained non-committal on squaring off against Mr Modi. But the taxman-turned-activist-turned-politician hasn't hesitated in investing a significant part of his campaign to attacking the Gujarat chief minister.
The one-year-old AAP will contest the national election for the first time since its dazzling debut in the Delhi polls in December on the back of an unconventional campaign and a promise to root out corruption and VIP culture.
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