Congress using Arvind Kejriwal as a weapon against Narendra Modi: BJP

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Tuesday Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal had been asked to contest against their party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in Varanasi by the Congress, as he was a pawn of the latter.

"First of all, the Congress does not have the guts to contest the polls and stand against the BJP, as they are aware that there party stands nowhere close to winning. On top of that, they are sending their pawns (Kejriwal) to contest against Modi in Varanasi," said Naqvi.

"Kejriwal is being used by the Congress as a weapon against the BJP. We would like to give them an advice that they should be more concerned about the end of their party, rather than worrying about other parties," he said.

Kejriwal arrived in Varanasi this morning and is likely to hold a 'referendum' at a rally today seeking people's approval for his decision to challenge Modi from this seat.

The former Delhi Chief Minister had earlier said that his immediate task is to hold the proposed rally in Varanasi and seek people's approval first and then finalize his stand on contesting against Modi.

Further, the AAP chief took a dig on Modi for the latter not being sure about his win from one constituency.

"Why is he (Modi) even thinking of contesting from two seats, an aspiring prime minister should have at least this minimum courage to contest only from one seat," Kejriwal added.

Polling for the Varanasi seat will be held on May 12, four days before votes are counted, in the final round of the nine-phase elections that kick off on April 7.