File pic: Arvind Kejriwal
As India began voting today in a nine-phase general election, the Aam Aadmi Party or AAP was in the news for controversial comments made during its campaign in Delhi.
At a rally at Chandni Chowk in Delhi's old quarters on Sunday, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal tried to justify his resignation as Chief Minister of Delhi after a 49-day stint arguing that he had only fought against corruption - not "eloped with anyone's daughter" or "go to Pakistan."
To a cheering crowd, Mr Kejriwal said, "These people say that I have run away, but I am very much here. I did not elope with anyone's girl. I am here to fight corruption to my last breath...I also did not go to Pakistan."
While campaigning for party candidate Ashutosh, the AAP chief also compared himself to Arjun, the hero of the epic Mahabharata, with the BJP's Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as the villains. "When Duryodhan went to meet Lord Krishna before the war, he asked for his army, while Arjun asked for the Lord. Today Modi and Rahul have the money power but we have God," he said.
Ashutosh's campaign also drew attention over singer-music director Vishal Dadlani's Bollywood-inspired song bashing rival parties - "Bachna aye kameenon, lo main aa gaya (beware rascals, we have come)." Mr Dadlani had spurred a controversy by singing the same lines just before the Delhi assembly election.
The AAP has fielded some 400 candidates across India, and Mr Kejriwal is contesting from Varanasi against Mr Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate.