Arvind Kejriwal is scheduled to visit Varanasi on Thursday and campaign for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) across the eight Assembly constituencies through padayatra and public meetings. Earlier, the AAP candidate reportedly carried out a door-to-door campaign in all the constituencies of Varanasi, according to the Uttar Pradesh AAP spokesperson Mukesh Singh.
Arvind Kejriwal began his four-day poll campaign in Uttar Pradesh on Monday and in the course, he visited and addresses public meetings in Lucknow, Barabanki, Gorakhpur, Prayagraj, Ramnagar, Rudhauli and so on. He began his tour by addressing a public meeting in the state capital's Qaisarbagh area.
During his campaign, Kejriwal was joined by the party's Uttar Pradesh in-charge Sanjay Singh, and three-four MLAs from Delhi, where the AAP is in power.
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His visit to Lucknow had a Bollywood twist when he equated himself with the dacoit Gabbar Singh from the 1975's classic 'Sholay'. At a public rally in the state’s capital, Kejriwal said that he would be "a terrorist who strikes fear into the hearts of the corrupt".
He further said, “Over the past few days, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, Amit Shah and Narendra Modi have been calling me a terrorist,” adding, “There are two types of terrorists. One that terrorises common people and the other that puts fear into the hearts of the corrupt. Kejriwal is the latter."
Kejriwal clarified that in case there is a hung assembly in Uttar Pradesh, the AAP will enter into a post-election alliance to keep the BJP out of power.
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Earlier, in December last year, Kejriwal-led AAP promised 10 lakh jobs every year and an allowance of Rs 5,000 per month to the unemployed, if the party is voted to power in the assembly elections. The announcement was made by AAP leader Manish Sisodia in presence of party Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh as he hit out at the current BJP government in Uttar Pradesh over the job situation and paper leaks.
Prior to that, the AAP had announced measures to benefit farmers and free electricity if voted to power in the 2022 assembly elections. Deputy Chief Minister, Manish Sisodia had said, “Today, I want to say on behalf of the Aam Aadmi Party that give your vote to the Aam Aadmi Party and jobs will be created, papers won't get leaked. Currently, the employment exchange website of Uttar Pradesh has 34 lakh applicants looking for jobs.”
Meanwhile, a total of 59 constituencies across nine districts voted in the fourth phase of the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections. Around 60 per cent polling was recorded across the constituencies with Lucknow crossing over 61 per cent voters' turnout for the first time.
