News Politics National Kejriwal campaigns in Varanasi, admits the mistake of resigning without consulting voters

Kejriwal campaigns in Varanasi, admits the mistake of resigning without consulting voters

Varanasi: AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, who admitted he should have consulted the people before deciding to quit as Delhi chief minister, has launched a dialogue with voters here as he takes on his formidable BJP

AAP volunteers had distributed among the people small pieces of paper to write their questions meant for Kejriwal. People had started trickling in around 4 p.m. -- and waited till Kejriwal arrived at 6.

After a brief speech in which he urged the people to defeat Modi in Varanasi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Amethi to unleash a revolution to wipe out corruption, Kejriwal answered questions from the audience.

Referring to the posters at the railway station that dubbed him a "bhagoda" (absconder), Kejriwal asked: "If I am an absconder, how come I am here to challenge Modi?"

But he admitted that he should have held a referendum in Delhi before resigning as chief minister, the same way he sought people's views before forming a minority government with Congress backing.

"I admit my mistake," he said to a question as to why he did not consult people before taking such a drastic step.