It's mango season, no 'Modi wave': AAP's slogan in Varanasi

Pitching its 'Aam ka mausam' to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Modi-wave pitch, the Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday fielded volunteers wearing T-shirts with mangoes printed on them when party convenor Arvind Kejriwal addressed his first public meeting here in the run-up to Lok Sabha polls.

Trying to strike a similarity between the popular season of 'king of fruits' and their party, the AAP leaders said 'aam ka mausam' is here across Varanasi and in other parts of the country, as against the claims made by the BJP for a 'Modi wave'.

While Kejriwal arrived more than one and half hours late for the public meeting, the venue was full of Rapid Action Force and police force to ensure security. There have been various instances of attempted assaults such as slapping and ink-throwing at Kejriwal meetings in different parts of the country.

While the meeting venue, a sports ground of a government school here, was just about half full, the crowd swelled by the time Kejriwal came. AAP leaders including Manish Sisodiya said that Kejriwal decided to conduct this meeting in an innovative way, wherein he would answer questions raised by the people rather than giving a speech.

Blank slips were circulated among the people on which they were asked to write their questions and those slips were later given for answers by Kejriwal, who greeted the public with 'har har mahadev' and called for a 'Banaras kranti' by ensuring Modi's loss. He also made a strong pitch for defeat of Rahul Gandhi from Amethi.

He said Modi's loss from Varanasi would ensure that he cannot become prime minister of this country.