Prime Minister Narendra Modi filed his nomination papers as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate for the Lok Sabha elections-2024 here on Tuesday, seeking a third term from the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency.
The event was attended by several NDA leaders, including Union Ministers and Chief Ministers in a show of strength.
The PM submitted papers during the auspicious pushya nakshatra on the day of Ganga Saptami before the Returning Officer, S Rajalingam. Sporting a white kurta-pajama and a blue sadri, Modi reached the district collectorate after a busy morning, which included an aarti on the banks of the Ganga at the Dashashwamedh ghat and prayers at the city's Kaal Bhairav temple.
Immediately after filing his papers, the prime minister headed for the Rudraksha Convention Centre to address local party leaders and workers.
BJP president J P Nadda and Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Hardeep Singh Puri, Anupriya Patel and Ramdas Athawale were among the leaders who flanked Modi as he emerged from the collectorate after filing his papers.
Before he filed his nomination, Modi posted in Hindi on 'X', "My relationship with Kashi is amazing, inseparable and incomparable... All I can say is that it cannot be expressed in words!"
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad Sangma, NCP leader Praful Patel, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan, Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular founder Jitan Ram Manjhi and Rashtriya Lok Morcha chief Upendra Kushwaha among others accompanied Modi to the collectorate.
Uttar Pradesh Minister and NISHAD party chief Sanjay Nishad, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party chief Omprakash Rajbhar, RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary, LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan, PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss, Tamil Maanila Congress chief G K Vasan, BJP leader Devanathan Yadav, BDJS president Thushar Vellappally and Asom Gana Parishad president Atul Bora were also there.
According to the BJP's Varanasi unit media co-in-charge Arvind Mishra, there were four proposers for Modi's nomination — Pandit Ganeshwar Shastri, long-time RSS functionary Baijnath Patel, Lalchand Kushwaha and Sanjay Sonkar.
All four, along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi, were present at the collector's office when Modi submitted his nomination papers.
The Prime Minister held a dazzling roadshow in Varanasi a day ago and vowed to do a lot more to serve the holy city in his third term. He spent the night in the city and filed his nomination on Tuesday.
Voting in Varanasi will take place in the seventh phase of the Lok Sabha election on June 1. The Congress has fielded its State unit president Ajay Rai from the seat and the BSP has nominated Athar Jamal Lari.
As most of the parliamentary constituencies in this region, including the entire Purvanchal (eastern UP) and adjoining Bihar areas, will go to the polls in these phases, NDA unity will be crucial, especially when caste equations and social engineering factors always play a decisive role in election results.
