Lucknow: Barely a decade ago, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) founder and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is now facing corruption charges in the Delhi excise policy case, had dared the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, who had come to Varanasi from Gujarat with his development model to contest his maiden Lok Sabha election in 2014.

Kejriwal aim was to stop Modi in the tracks, telling people to defeat him because, “if voted to power, he will spell trouble for the people of the country.”

Today as the country heads for another round of general elections, Kejriwal finds himself behind bars while Modi aims to pass the mark of 400 Lok Sabha seats.

Politics is all about imponderables.

AAP, founded in November 2012, was not even two years old when it decided to challenge both Modi and Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi. While Kejriwal contested from Varanasi, Kumar Vishwas was sent to Amethi to defeat Gandhi in the latter’s stronghold.

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Though the decision might have given AAP the national focus and the fillip that a fledgling party may have desired but it also created political animosity.

A confident Kejriwal had then said, “National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) are two armies they- Modi and Gandhi- head. If you defeat them, then both the armies will be crushed.”

Much of his confidence had come from the party’s first-ever victory in the 2013 Delhi elections. The volunteers, many of whom were professionals, were confident as well because Kejriwal had not only defeated the three-time Congress chief minister Shiela Dikshit but had also resigned after 49 days failing to get the anti-graft Lokpal Bill passed in the Delhi assembly.

Their message was: “We are not chasing power but changing the corrupt ways of doing politics.” The party was born out of anti- corruption crusade that hit the Delhi streets before its inception.

He was accompanied by Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, both in jail today in the Delhi excise policy case. Kumar Vishwas has quit AAP after he lost Amethi to Gandhi scion Rahul, who uncomfortably stands today with Kejriwal to fight the all-powerful Modi, determined to win a third term with his army of supporters.

Kejriwal ended second by securing 209238 votes while Modi polled 581022. In Amethi, Rahul mustered 409651 votes, Smriti Irani 300748. Kumar Vishwas despite his poetic skills could not save his deposits as he polled 25527 votes.

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Kejriwal, whom the Enforcement Directorate has dubbed as the ‘kingpin’ of the liquor scam, a charge he has strongly refuted, has described the move as a smokescreen to crush AAP.

Modi who had then said, “My coming to Varanasi is like a child going to his mother. I have come to this divine land on the call of Ganga Mata,” faces no contest in Kashi though Ajay Rai of Congress will given him an ideological fight.

The face-off between AAP and BJP had its first spill on the streets of Varanasi when black ink had smeared Kejriwal’s face during a road show. He did not stop then.

Hitting out at BJP’s slogan of Har Har Modi, Kejriwal had then said ‘ Modi wants to be above God. It’s a tradition in Kashi to greet each other with Har Har Mahadev. He has replaced the chant with ‘ Har Har Modi.’Today the chant has changed to ‘ ghar ghar Modi’ while Kejriwal faces tough challenge to his image and his party’s existence.