Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Varanasi constituency has been a frequent destination for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwarts as they make a final push to win a crucial Lok Sabha seat among 13 seats going to polls in the seventh and final phase of Uttar Pradesh state elections on June 1.
Modi is seeking a third consecutive term from the constituency and will be taking on Union of India candidate Ajay Rai, who lost to Modi from the constituency in the general elections of 2014 and 2019. Other candidates from the constituency include Atal Jamal Lali of the BSP, Gagan Prakash Yadav of the Apna Dal (Kamelawadi), Koli Shetty Shivkumar of the Yug Tulsi Party and independents Sanjay Kumar Tiwari and Dinesh Kumar Yadav.
With polls in Purvanchal constituency due to go ahead on June 1, the party has urged its key leaders to tackle specific areas of Varanasi, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah leading the overall campaign, party chief JP Nadda travelling to Varanasi and Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani visiting the holy city on Wednesday to woo women voters in the constituency, people familiar with the matter said.
Shah, who is heading the party’s election campaign, was in Varanasi on Monday and Tuesday night and met several BJP Kashi district leaders to get their views on the ongoing election campaign in Varanasi, a senior BJP leader said on condition of anonymity. NDA ally and SBSP leader Om Prakash Rajbhar also met Shah in Varanasi.
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“Shah is likely to remain here till May 30,” said a senior BJP leader aware of the developments.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, who has been camping in the city for the past two days meeting corporaters and traders, said the NDA is on track to achieve its target of winning over 400 seats in the elections.
He said Modi will win Varanasi by a record margin while the party will win more seats in Uttar Pradesh compared to 2019. “There is a very favourable atmosphere for the BJP and NDA across the country and there is no anti-government force against the Modi government,” he said.
“On Monday, BJP leader Nadda had tea at a roadside stall in Varanasi and interacted with workers and supporters. He also held a meeting with party workers and received their feedback on the election campaign at the grassroots level,” Khasi region BJP spokesperson Navratan Rathi said.
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On Tuesday, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya participated in a programme at the Jhule Lal temple in Varanasi’s Raksa area, while Varanasi in-charge and Uttar Pradesh Tourism Minister Jaiveer Singh spoke at a voter awareness programme in the city. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday interacted with lawyers and praised the central government’s development work. “Prime Minister Modi has also launched a nation first campaign. On one side you have people who put nation first and on the other side you have people who put family first,” he said.
On May 26, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held a meeting with educationists and members of the Tamil community in Varanasi. Commenting on the situation on the ground, BJP activist Rajkumar Das said, “Grassroots activists like me are working with the goal of ‘win a million votes’ to ensure that Modiji wins with a record margin of over a million votes.”
Professor Kaushal Kishore Mishra, a political analyst and former head of the sociology department at Bangladesh University, said all the BJP efforts are aimed at ensuring Modi wins Varanasi with the most votes. “As temperatures are rising, senior ministers and leaders are holding small meetings to interact with locals and seek their support,” he said.
