Arvind Kejriwal goes for vipassana session after hectic Lok Sabha campaign

NEW DELHI/VARANASI: As the nation waits with bated breath for the result of a mammoth Lok Sabha elections, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal has chosen to shun election frenzy and instead head for a vipassana session.

Kejriwal, an ardent fan, will be in a meditation centre at Sohna and will not have access to newspapers, television or any other media in sharp contrast to most candidates who will be monitoring exit polls or receiving reports from their campaign managers.

This comes after nearly a month of hectic campaigning in Varanasi where Kejriwal faces BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi and Congress's Ajay Rai.

The AAP leader returned to Delhi from Varanasi on May 12 even as the voting wind up in the ninth and last phase of the long drawn election.

The AAP leader is known to leave for his retreat after significant milestones. For instance, he left Delhi for vipassana on polling day of the Delhi assembly only to return on December 8 by which time his newbie party had acquired cult status.

Kejriwal is in august company. If Modi is a yoga follower, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is a vipassana regular, turning to it to find peace after her father Rajiv Gandhi's violent death.

An avowed atheist, Kejriwal has since last December confessed to have rediscovered his faith. In many of his speeches in Varanasi, Kejriwal has used Hindu symbolism speaking about how the heady popularity of the party was a "karishma".

He is known to have evoked imagery of gods using the "jhaadu" (the party's election symbol) to clean up the world of evil and asking for the public's vote to help in this task.

Earlier on May 10 hours after campaigning ended in a heady battle in Varanasi, the AAP leader shared a convivial meal with his close volunteers at the famous Pizzaria on Assi Ghat. He and his colleague Manish Sisodia had tea at the ghat before they were joined by others for dinner.