Ready to Contest Against Modi in Varanasi: Kejriwal

The Aam Aadmi Party leader said his party had asked him to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi against the BJP prime ministerial candidate.

Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said his party has asked him to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi against BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. He said a final decision would be based on a referendum to be held in Varanasi when he visits the town to address a rally on March 23.

Addressing an AAP rally here, Kejriwal alleged that Modi had links with Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani and also scoffed at the Gujarat model of growth.

“The people of this country are fed up of the corrupt ways of both the Congress and BJP. We have to defeat them in this elections itself. The best way to defeat them is to defeat their leaders. Kumar Vishwas is growing from strength to strength in Amethi and the Congressmen are attacking him as they are frustrated,” Kejriwal said.

He also accused Modi and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi of being “chamchas of Mukesh Ambani”.

Kejriwal said he entered politics to practice principled politics and not for power and money. He claimed he emulated Lal Bahadur Shastri, who quit as railway minister after a train accident, in giving up the Delhi Chief Minister’s post as he was unable to get the Jan Lokpal Bill passed.

On Gas Price Hike

Kejriwal said a senior bureaucrat from Gujarat told him that Narendra Modi had recommended the hike in LPG price from $4 to $16 per unit, though the cost to produce it was just around $1.

“After Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily decided to hike the gas price from $4 to $8, I thought Modi, who is being projected as the most pro-people and proactive politician in the country, will do something to prevent it. I wrote a letter to him to clarify his stand on the proposed hike. However, he did not respond to my letter. When I visited Gujarat, a senior bureaucrat told me that Modi had recommended gas price hike,” he said.

Kejriwal said the previous NDA Government had “arbitrarily” allotted gas blocks to Reliance Industries in 2000 and the subsequent Congress Government raised the gas price. Now, Mukesh Ambani is profiting at the cost of common man, he claimed.

“So, I had to force the Delhi Police to register an FIR against Ambani and others,” he added. Kejriwal said “both the BJP and Congress acted as if an FIR cannot be lodged against Ambani”.

Kejriwal said the gas scam is worth `54,000 crore.

Kejriwal also alleged a big conspiracy has been hatched to project Modi as a great leader by claiming that he was instrumental in making Gujarat a model state. He said some media houses had a role in it.

Meanwhile in Delhi, an AAP leader said: “The question is not about winning or losing, it’s more about making a statement and raising issues important to the country and people.”