Arvind Kejriwal to not contest LS elections from Varanasi

The Aam Aadmi Party Sunday said its convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will not be contesting from Varanasi in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

“Kejriwal will not contest the Lok Sabha polls, as he wants to give special focus to his state. The AAP will contest on all the Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Goa. The party will contest on some seats in UP, and final modalities will be worked out by February. Apart from Varanasi, the party will contest from seats in eastern and western UP, where the organisation is strong,” AAP spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh told PTI on phone.

AAP said it will field a ‘strong candidate’ from the seat where PM Narendra Modi contested 2014 Lok Sabha elections other than his home turf of Vadodara.

Singh said in Delhi his party is working on education, health, farmers, power and providing drinking water. “If we foray into national politics, then our issues will be education for all, free education to economically weaker sections of the society, ending unemployment and implementing the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission,” Singh said.

On a recent statement made by Kejriwal to not vote for the Congress in the coming Lok Sabha elections, Singh said, “Kejriwal was quoted out of context. He had said that in a meeting in the national capital that if you want to defeat the BJP, then do not waste your vote by casting it in favour of the Congress. His statement was in the context of Delhi, from where the AAP is contesting on all the seats.”