PM Modi files nomination from Varanasi Lok Sabha seat

Mangalore Today News Network / India Today

Varanasi, May 14, 2024: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday filed his nomination papers from the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, with Pandit Ganeshwar Shastri sitting beside him as one of his four proposers.

(Pandit Ganeshwar Shastri had determined the ’muhurat’ for pran-pratishtha of Lord Ram in Ayodhya).

The other three proposers for Prime Minister Narendra Modi were Baijnath Patel - an RSS volunteer from the OBC (Other Backward Classes) community, Lalchand Kushwaha - also belonging to the OBC community, and Sanjay Sonkar - belonging to the Dalit community.

Several top leaders from the party, including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, also accompanied him during the nomination filing.

Ahead of filing his nomination, PM Modi today offered prayers to River Ganga at the Dasaswamedh Ghat.

PM Modi also visited the Kaal Bhairav Temple in the city.

Also speaking exclusively to India Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the Dasaswamedh Ghat, he felt he has been invited to the city by ’Ma Ganga’ (River Ganga).

As he turned emotional, the Prime Minister also said the locals of Varanasi have made him too a ’Banarasiya’ (a resident of Banaras, presently called Varanasi)

Earlier today, the Prime Minister said his relationship with Kashi (another name for Varanasi) is "inseparable and incomparable".

In an X post, PM Modi shared a video of him speaking about his love for Kashi, and how his relationship with River Ganga has evolved over the years.

The video also showed the Prime Minister performing puja and darshan, along with many of his roadshows, during his various visits to his city.

"When I went to Kashi in 2014, I felt I was invited to the city by ’Ma Ganga’. However, today, after 10 years of my visit to Kashi, I can say ’Aaj Ma Ganga ne mujhe god le liya hai’ (today Ma Ganga has adopted me)," PM Modi said in the video.

"Ten years have passed, and my bond with Kashi has only grown stronger, and I now refer to it as ’my Kashi’. I feel a mother-son relationship with Kashi," an emotional Prime Minister Modi said.

"It is a democracy, and I will continue to seek the blessings of the people. However, my relationship with Kashi is something different," he said.

PM Modi, who first contested from Varanasi in 2014 as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, is seeking a third consecutive term from the Varanasi seat, where voting will be held on June 1 in the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha election.

On Monday, PM Modi on Monday held a dazzling roadshow in Varanasi and vowed to do a lot more to serve the holy city in his third term.