Stones thrown at Kejriwal
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal faced a barrage of stones and brickbats thrown at him by over a dozen youth shouting "Har Har Modi, Ghar Ghar Modi" slogans near the Banaras Hindu University campus on Thursday evening, police and eyewitnesses said.
One unidentified youth was arrested.
Kejriwal was on his door-to-door campaign when the attack took place while he was at the famous Keshav Paan shop at Lanka around 8:00pm.
Keshav Chaurasia, the owner of the paan shop, has been proposed by the BJP to be one of the proposers of Modi when the latter files his nomination. Pappu, the owner of a popular tea stall at Assi, is another proposer. Pappu's tea stall was one of the prominent venues for Modi's famous 'chai pe charcha' programme last month.
Kejriwal made it a point to include Pappu's tea stall and Keshav's paan shop in his public contact programme during which he is inviting questions and suggestions from the public.
Meanwhile, AAP yesterday claimed that the sudden spurt in the growing attacks from the Bharatiya Janta Party on Arvind Kejriwal at Varanasi is a clear reflection of the frustration in the Narendra Modi camp.
In a press release, the AAP said that in less than 12 hours, BJP workers under guidance from their state and national leadership had twice attempted to disrupt Kejriwal's campaign in Varanasi.
After Thursday night's condemnable incident, the BJP workers yesterday morning once again tried to disrupt Kejriwal's padyatra in the city by raising slogans, using unparliamentary language and showing obscene gestures in presence of the residents. The BJP is now showing its true colours and attempts by its workers to prevent Kejriwal from campaigning reflects the true ideology of the saffron party, which is based on intolerance and fascism, said the AAP statement.
Kejriwal has been attacked several times in the recent past in a number of places in his party's campaign trail.
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