Arvind Kejriwal, who wanted Varanasi to let him know whether he should take on Narendra Modi, will have to wait for two days longer than he had anticipated. His rally in the city has been refused permission for the 23rd of this month because of local elections; he has been told he can hold it on March 25 instead.
Mr. Kejriwal, the 45-year-old chief of the Aam Aadmi Party, had said that he would ask Varanasi to decide for him on whether he should stand against Mr. Modi, who was announced over the weekend as the BJP’s candidate from the city. Mr. Kejriwal did not indicate the mechanism that his referendum would employ.
Mr. Modi, 64, may also run for Parliament from his home state of Gujarat. A decision by the BJP is expected soon.
For weeks, the BJP prevaricated over whether to allocate Varanasi to its prime ministerial candidate because of blowback from Muril Manohar Joshi, its 80-year-old leader who currently represents Varanasi in the Lok Sabha. He has now been announced as the candidate from Kanpur.
