As Prime Minister Narendra Modi filed his nomination from Varanasi on Tuesday, intense curiosity surrounded who his four proposers would be. The prime minister’s proposers, chosen keeping inclusivity in mind, are from the Brahmin, Other Backward Class (OBC), and Dalit communities. While three of the proposers remained in the background, astrologer and Vedic scholar Ganeshwar Shastri Dravid was the only person by the PM’s side as he filed his nomination papers at the district magistrate’s office. The PM was also accompanied by BJP's national president JP Nadda, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP state president Bhupendra Chaudhary as well as CMs Yogi Adityanath, Pushkar Singh Dhami, and Mohan Yadav and a host of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders such as Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, JanaSena Party chief Pawan Kalyan, former Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu, among others. Here is a look at the four proposers. Ganeshwar Shastri Dravid Dravid (66) is a renowned scholar of the Vedas and is a resident of Varanasi’s Ram Ghat area. He was tasked with deciding the “mahurat (auspicious time)” for the Ram Temple consecration in Ayodhya in January, the “bhoomi pujan (ground-breaking ceremony)” for the temple in August 2020, and the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor in February 2022. According to BJP insiders, he was asked to decide the mahurat for the consecration with an idea to “bridge the gap between the Hindus of north and south India”. Hailing from the village of Thiruvisanallur in Tamil Nadu, Dravid's ancestors migrated to Varanasi in the 19th century. His father, Laxman Shastri, is credited with the establishment of Shri Vallabhram Shaligram Sangved Vidyalaya in Ram Ghat. Apart from his knowledge in astrology, Dravid is known for his expertise in Krishna Yajurveda, Shukla Yajurveda, and Nyay Shastra. Sanjay Sonkar The 50-year-old is the Zila Mahamantri in the BJP’s Varanasi unit and belongs to the Sonkar community, which is categorised as a Scheduled Caste. He came into focus in 2022 after he met Modi during the campaign for the Assembly polls. He is a resident of Varanasi and is a BJP old-timer. Lalchand Kushwaha The owner of a textile shop, the 65-year-old is from the OBC Kushwaha caste and a resident of Varanasi’s Cantonment area. He is the BJP’s Varanasi zonal in-charge. Baijnath Patel Patel is an RSS old-timer and started his political journey with the Jana Sangh. A resident of Varanasi’s Sevapuri area, Patel is from the OBC community. He has previously served as the village head of Harshosh.
