The high-decibel slugfest between Narendra Modi and Mulayam Singh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh had an equally strident sideshow in Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s boisterous gathering in Kanpur on Sunday.
AAP leaders publicly projected Arvind Kejriwal’s candidature against Modi in Varanasi although the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has so far not decided on where its prime ministerial candidate will contest from.
Before Kejriwal took the stage to assert that “there is no Modi wave”, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said: “We appeal to him (Kejriwal) to contest from Varanasi where Modi will be fielded.” Kejriwal’s close aide and former minister in the Delhi Cabinet Manish Sisodia said, “we want the people of Varanasi to answer all the issues that Kejriwal has raised on Ambani. Kejriwal will pose all these questions to Modi in Varanasi.”
Significantly, the BJP has had only one meeting of its Central Election Committee (CEC). Another meeting is scheduled on March 8 and one more likely on March 13.
There have been discussions about the possibility of Modi contesting from two seats – Vadodara in Guajarat and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh – but nothing has so far been finalised. Lucknow is another high profile seat in UP which could have set the tone for Modi’s campaign given that it was once held by Atal Behari Vajpayee. However, BJP President Rajnath Singh is believed to be keen on contesting from Lucknow.
Modi, meanwhile, refused to even acknowledge that AAP is a factor in UP.
In his rally in Lucknow on Sunday, he kept the focus on Samajwadi Party and Mulayam Singh Yadav. The SP leader too addressed a rally in Allahabad, accusing Modi of being a “killer of humanity”.
“You massacre Muslims and then someone says he is willing to apologise. You think Muslims are fools?” said Yadav. Modi accused Mulayam of “hiding lack of governance behind secularism”.
“I don’t talk about secularism to win votes. They do it because they have nothing to show for development. Netaji (reference to Mulayam Singh Yadav) talks about Gujarat. Does he know what it means to be in Gujarat – 24/7 electricity all 365 days in the year. It would have been better if Netaji had talked about Uttar Pradesh and what his party’s government has done,” Modi said.