People from Haryana like to challenge Modi: Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday said there is "something in the soil of Haryana" as people from the state "like to challenge" Narendra Modi, referring to former BSF constable Tej Bahadur Yadav taking on the prime minister in Varanasi.

In a tweet, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener said that in the 2014 general elections too, someone from Haryana-- referring to himself-- had contested against Modi from the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh.

Yadav, who hails from Haryana, was dismissed from the Border Security Force (BSF) in 2017 after complaining about the quality of food.

He was declared as the candidate of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP) and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) alliance in Uttar Pradesh on Monday.

"There is something in the soil of Haryana. Last time too, someone (himself) from Haryana had challenged Modi ji in Varanasi, this time too Haryana's jawan has locked horns with Modi ji. Best wishes to the SP-BSP alliance candidate from the entire nation," Kejriwal tweeted.

Born and brought up in Haryana, Kejriwal had contested against Modi in the 2014 general elections but lost to him by over 3 lakh votes.

Varanasi goes to polls in the last phase of the ongoing elections on May 19.