PM Modi Files Nomination from the Varanasi Lok Sabha Constituency

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday filed his nomination for the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency. Prominent political figures including Union Ministers and leaders of the National Democratic Alliance accompanied the Prime Minister. Pandit Ganeshwar Shastri, known for determining the auspicious timing for the praan-pratishtha of Lord Ram in Ayodhya, was one of PM Modi's four proposers.

Expressing his deep connection to Varanasi, Modi shared his feelings in a post on the social media platform "X", stating, "My relationship with my Kashi is amazing, inseparable and incomparable... all I can say is that it cannot be expressed in words!" During a roadshow on Monday, the Prime Minister pledged further to serve the holy city in his third term.

Before filing his nomination, Modi paid homage to the sacred River Ganga at the Dasaswamedh Ghat and visited the Kaal Bhairav Temple. With voting set for June 1st in Varanasi, Congress has fielded its state president Ajay Rai as a contender.

Varanasi, a stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has been won by the party eight times since 1991, with a brief interruption in 2004 by the Congress' RK Mishra. In the 2019 elections, Modi secured a resounding victory with a margin of 6,74,664 votes against the Samajwadi Party’s Shalini Yadav.​