New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has formally entered the electoral fray for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections by filing his nomination from the Varanasi constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Accompanied by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Modi completed the nomination process at the District Magistrate’s office in Varanasi.
The Prime Minister’s nomination was supported by four proposers representing diverse communities. Pandit Ganeshwar Shastri, a member of the Brahmin community, Baijnath Patel, an OBC community member and an old RSS volunteer, Lalchand Kushwaha, another OBC community member, and Sanjay Sonkar, representing the Dalit community, all proposed Modi’s candidacy.
Modi’s decision to contest from Varanasi is significant, as in the 2014 elections, he contested and won from both Gandhinagar in Gujarat and Varanasi. However, he chose to retain Varanasi, winning again in 2019. Before filing his nomination, Modi visited the Kaal Bhairav Temple in Varanasi to seek blessings.
Prayers were also held at the Dashashwamedh Ghat in Varanasi for Modi’s victory. After completing the nomination process, Modi was joined by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president JP Nadda, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
In the upcoming elections, Modi will face competition from Congress party’s Ajai Rai and Bahujan Samajwadi Party’s (BSP) Athar Ali Lari. In the 2019 elections, Modi secured victory in Varanasi by a significant margin of nearly 4.8 lakh votes, a notable increase from his winning margin of 3.72 lakh votes in 2014.
