After prayers at Dashashwamedh Ghat and Kal Bhairav temple, PM Modi files nomination in Varanasi

PM Modi is contesting against the Opposition INDIA bloc candidate Ajay Rai in Varanasi in the Lok Sabha elections 2024.

Written by Asad Rehman

Varanasi | Updated: May 14, 2024 01:08 PM IST

2 min read

Prime Minister Narendra Modi accompanied by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath files his his nomination papers for Lok Sabha elections, in Varanasi. (PTI Photo)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday filed his nomination paper for the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, from where he is looking to win for the third consecutive time. Accompanied by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and seer Ganeshwar Dutt Shastri, PM Modi filed his nomination at the district magistrate office in Varanasi city.

As DM S Rajalingam collected the papers from the Prime Minister, who took oath while filing his nomination, a huge crowd gathered around the office in anticipation of Modi filing nomination, with people shouting slogans of “Jai Shri Ram” and “Har Har Mahadev”.

Before filing his nomination papers at 11.40 am, the Prime Minister started his day in Varanasi by offering prayers at Dashashwamedh Ghat, the main ghat in Varanasi, and headed to the Kal Bhairav Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva in his fierce form. He will go to the Rudraksha Convention Centre in Varanasi where he is scheduled to meet workers and leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Opposition INDIA bloc has fielded Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai to face Modi in Varanasi, which will go to polls in the seventh and last phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 on June 1.

On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a two-and-a-half hour roadshow in his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi from the Madan Mohan Malaviya statue outside the main gate of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, where he offered prayers.

When Modi first contested from Varanasi in 2014, he polled about 3.37 lakh votes more than AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, his nearest rival. The constituency recorded a voter turnout of 58.35 per cent then. In 2019, when the voter turnout in Varanasi was 57.81 per cent, Modi’s victory margin increased to 4.80 lakh votes against the Samajwadi Party candidate Shalini Yadav.

Upper-caste Hindus, including Brahmins, Bhumihars and Jaiswals, are the majority of the voters in the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, followed by Muslims and OBCs.

Asad Rehman

Asad Rehman is with the national bureau of The Indian Express and covers politics and policy focusing on religious minorities in India. A journalist for over eight years, Rehman moved to this role after covering Uttar Pradesh for five years for The Indian Express. During his time in Uttar Pradesh, he covered politics, crime, health, and human rights among other issues. He did extensive ground reports and covered the protests against the new citizenship law during which many were killed in the state. During the Covid pandemic, he did extensive ground reporting on the migration of workers from the metropolitan cities to villages in Uttar Pradesh. He has also covered some landmark litigations, including the Babri Masjid-Ram temple case and the ongoing Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute. Prior to that, he worked on The Indian Express national desk for three years where he was a copy editor. Rehman studied at La Martiniere, Lucknow and then went on to do a bachelor's degree in History from Ramjas College, Delhi University. He also has a Masters degree from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. ... Read More

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Lok Sabha Elections 2024 Narendra Modi Varanasi