Varanasi: External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Sunday campaigned for the BJP in Varanasi, emphasising the need for India to have a visionary leader like Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the present decade as global roughness show no signs of abating.     

Addressing an election meeting at Benarash Club in Varanasi, he appealed to the voters to press the ‘right button’ for the Modi's guarantee. 

The union minister is among the top guns roped in by the BJP in the segment, with party chief JP Nadda and union minister Piyush Goyal campaigning hand-in-hand since Sunday. 

As part of the election campaign, Goyal took a morning walk and interacted with the people in the Varanasi constituency on Monday. “Varanasi is the family of PM Modi. The people of Varanasi have preserved the heritage of the nation. Tourism has become one of the income sources for the people here. A lot of people travel to Varanasi and strengthen the economy of this place... PM Modi has brought development to everyone,” he said. 

Taking a swipe at the opposition, he said, "The opposition do appeasement and divisive politics. Sometimes, they want to do a property survey. Sometimes, they talk about dividing us based on race... Congress and the INDI alliance talk about dividing the nation. They talk about inheritance tax. I condemn the policies of the INDI alliance and Congress."

Amit Shah to Campaign in Varanasi

Scheduled for polling on June 1, Varanasi will witness a mega election rally of Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday. All the BJP heavyweights are campaigning to ensure a record margin victory of PM Modi for the third consecutive term from Varanasi. 

Talking about India's global presence and respect, Jaishankar pitched for Modi’s third term as PM, saying that domestic achievements of India in the past decade have been the main reason why the country is globally respected.

“You need a leader who balances Bharat First with Vasudev Kutumbkum and only then India can be Vishwabandhu… we have done 36 plurilaterals and we have shown we can balance America and Russia, Iran and Israel, G-7 and the Global South,” Jaishankar said.

He added that India under PM Modi's leadership in the past five years has met the challenges arising out of the Ukraine war, the Chinese army transgression on the LAC, cross-border terrorism, the Covid pandemic and abrogation of Article 370. To enhance national security, the country needs Modi’s “Make in India” approach, he said.

The Congress has pitted Ajay Rai against PM Modi from Varanasi. Notably, Rai faced defeat against PM Modi in two consecutive elections of 2014 and 2019. The voters will again decide his fate for the third time.