Narendra Modi files nomination papers from Varanasi

Guwahati: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today filed his nomination papers from Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency accompanied by top NDA leaders.

The leaders who accompanied PM Narendra Modi were senior leader of BJP and Union Minister Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, BJP President Amit Shah, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Shiv Sena's Uddhav Thackeray, JD (U)'s Nitish Kumar and LJP's Ramvilas Paswan.

The Prime Minister, dressed in white kurta-pyjama and a black sleeveless jacket, walked into the Collectorate office at 11.20 AM and was welcomed with flowers by Rajnath Singh. Modi greeted all the NDA leaders present and touched the feet of Akali leader Parkash Singh Badal.

The PM won this seat with a thumping majority in 2014 bagging more than half the votes polled, 56 percent with a massive margin of 3.37lakh votes over Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)'s Arvind Kejriwal. Congress's Ajay Rai settled for the third position with just about 7 percent votes.

The proposers of Narendra Modi were a veteran BJP leader and a member of the Dom Raja family who helps perform the last rites at Varanasi's Manikarnika Ghat, a chowkidar and the principal of a women's college. Among those who proposed the PM's name is also Panini Kanya Mahavidyalaya Principal Nandita Shastri Chaturvedi. Chaturvedi said that this a matter of great pride and honour.

A political analyst, Professor KK Mishra said that apparently, the BJP has chosen the proposers strategically to give a message to Dalits, traders and elderly workers of the party.

The Lok Sabha polls in Varanasi is scheduled to be held in the seventh and final phase of the general elections on May 19.

After filing the nomination papers, Modi said that he was thankful for the love he has got from the people. He said, "The people have been blessing me since yesterday just the way they did 5 years ago. People are saying that Modi has already won and that there is no need to vote but I urge all the people not to believe in it and to come out and vote for their rights."

PM Modi also held a mega road show on Thursday in Varanasi and passed by ancient temples and ghats. The seven-kilometer roadshow took two and a half hours and finally ended in the holiest ghat of Varanasi, Dashashwamedh and also attended the evening aarti at this ghat on the banks of the River Ganga.

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