AAP to fight Lok Sabha polls in UP, Kejriwal won't contest

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday said it will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Uttar Pardesh but unlike last time, party chief Arvind Kejriwal will not be its face from Varanasi.

Speaking to IANS, AAP MP Sanjay Singh said the details of the seats and candidates would be finalised by February-end.

"The party or Kejriwal never said that he is going to contest the Lok Sabha elections. He is Delhi's Chief Minister and he has no plans to join the electoral race in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections," Singh said.

"The party will field candidates in the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh from the areas where the organisation is strong. The details of seats and candidates will be announced by February-end," he added.

Singh on Sunday concluded his two-day "Bhajpa Bhagao, Bhagwan Bachao Yatra" in Varanasi.

The Yatra, which started from Ayodhya on Saturday, was organised to "expose" the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on various issues. He also sough to highlight that hundreds of Shivlingas were allegedly found lying under the rubble of structures demolished to pave way for the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor -- a pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his parliamentary constituency.

The AAP has announced that it will focus on Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Goa in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

In 2014, Kejriwal contested face from Varanasi against BJP candidate and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Kejriwal lost the elections by over three lakh votes.

--IANS

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