Throwing an open challenge to prime ministerial candidate of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) Narendra Modi for debate on any issue, national convener of the Aam Admi Party (AAP) Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday made the formal announcement of his candidature from Varanasi parliamentary constituency.
Terming both Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi agents of business tycoon Mukesh Ambani, Kejriwal informed about the Swiss Bank account number of Ambani brothers and held the media responsible for creating illusion in the country about Modi by calling him Vikash Purush.
Earlier in the day, eggs and ink was thrown at AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal while he was undertaking a roadshow in Varanasi on Tuesday following his visit to the Kal Bhairav and Kashi Vishwanath temples here.
Kejriwal’s face and shirt were splattered with ink by unidentified people. The UP in-charge of the party Sanjay Singh and former Delhi law Minister Somnath Bharti were also targeted by these people.
The AAP leader also faced sporadic protests while undertaking the roadshow. Earlier, Kejriwal had announced that he would contest lok Sabha election from Varanasi but after taking the opinion of the people. He was in the city on Tuesday to seek opinion from the people through a rally held at Benia Bagh.
Though Kejriwal had come to seek the opinion of the people of Varanasi, few thousand workers of AAP had come here to attend the rally from various states including Maharastra, Delhi and Bihar.
Kejriwal said that he had decided to contest election against Modi to bring the realty of Guajrat’s development to the fore and added that he had no ambition of becoming a Member of Parliament. "The country is important to me and not the party," he said further while addressing the gathering, which also included Muslims.
Kejriwal alerted the farmers of Varanasi that if they voted for Modi, their land would be given to industrialists like what happened in Gujarat where their land was acquired about 10 years ago but compensation was not given to them till date.
"Even the subsidy provided to farmers was also stopped by the Modi government and as many as 5,878 farmers committed suicide during 10 years," he said and cautioned the people of Varanasi that if Modi came to power, food inflation would increase.
Kejriwal also attacked national vice-president of All-India Congress Committee (AICC) Rahul Gandhi and said Congress also supported Mukesh Ambani and this was the reason why the UPA Government increased the price of gas. "Modi is ready to do anything to become the Prime Minister and he made an alliance with MNS in Maharastra which opposes the people of Poorvanchal and Bihar who live there," he said.
Kejriwal appealed to the people to bring about a revolution in the 2014 parliamentary election and ensure the defeat of leaders of both UPA and NDA. Kejriwal surprised one and all present in the rally by saying that if both Modi and Rahul were defeated, the nation would face election again after an year but thereafter an honest government would be formed for five years.
Earlier, Kejriwal reached the city by Shiv Ganga Express in the morning and had darshan and pujan at Kal Bhairav and Kashi Vishwanath temple. He also took a holy dip in Ganga. But during road show from Maidagin to Benia Bagh the ink was thrown on him in Pipalani Katra. AAP senior leaders Kumar Vishwas, Sanjay Singh, Manish Sisodia, Prof Anand and Alka lamba also shared the stage with Kejriwal and also addressed the rally.