Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday filed his nomination from the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Prime Minister Modi is eying his third term as MP from the constituency. Varanasi will go to polls in the penultimate phase of the ongoing general elections on June 1.
A total of 12 Chief Ministers, including Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, were also present at the Prime Minister's nomination filing event in Varanasi. Former Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu and LJP (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan were also present at the occasion.
The four proposers who accompanied PM Modi are Pandit Ganeshwar Shastri, Baijnath Patel, Lalchand Kushwaha and Sanjay Sonkar. Pandit Ganeshwar Shastri gave the auspicious time for the Pran Pratishtha at the Shri Ram Mandir in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya that took place in January this year. While Baijnath Patel and Lalchand Kushwaha from the OBC community, Sanjay Sonkar hails from the Dalit community.
PM Modi on relationship with Kashi
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister also posted on X about his relationship with Kashi. "My relationship with Kashi is amazing, inseparable and incomparable... all I can say is that it cannot be expressed in words," he said.
Narendra Modi's opponents in Varanasi Lok Sabha contest
The Congress has once again fielded its state chief Ajay Rai to contest against the Prime Minister. Standup comedian Shyam Rangeela will also be contesting from the seat as an Independent candidate.
Varanasi- a BJP stronghold since 2009
Varanasi has been a BJP stronghold since the 2009 general elections, when Murli Manohar Joshi won the seat for the first time after the 2004 jolt. In this election, Joshi secured more than 2 lakh votes and a vote share of 30.52 per cent.
In the 2014 general elections, the BJP widened its lead in the constituency. Narendra Modi won from the seat for the first time as he secured more than 5.81 lakh votes and commanded a vote share of 56.37 per cent. Modi won from the seat by a majority of over 3.71 lakh votes.
In 2019, Prime Minister Modi won from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat with a thumping majority. In this election, Modi secured more than 6.74 lakh votes and a vote share of 63.62 per cent. The Prime Minister won by a majority of more than 4.79 lakh votes.