New Delhi: Eyeing a third term from the Varanasi parliamentary constituency, Prime Minister Narendra Modi filed his nomination for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on Tuesday, May 14. A day before filing his papers, PM Modi held a 6-km-long roadshow, promising to do a lot more for the overall development of the city if voted to power again.

Then-Gujarat CM Narendra Modi first contested from Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi as BJP's prime ministerial candidate in 2014. After 10 years, PM is seeking a third consecutive term from the seat, where voting will be held on June 1 in the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha election.

Varanasi, a stronghold of the BJP, has been won by the Prime Minister twice- the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The Congress has pitted Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai against PM Modi in Varanasi. This is the third time Ajay Rai will face PM Modi in the Lok Sabha contest. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, PM Modi won the seat with over 6,74,664 votes and commanded a vote share of 63.6 per cent. In 2014, PM Modi contested two Lok Sabha seats- from Gujarat's Vadodara and Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi.

PM Prays To Kashi Kotwal Baba Kaal Bhairav Before Filing Nominations 

From the Dashashwamedh Ghat, the prime minister took a cruise ride to the Namo Ghat and then reached the Kaal Bhairav temple. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath accompanied Modi during his visit to the temple where the prime minister offered his prayers.

PM Performs Aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat

Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered prayers at the Dashashwamedh Ghat on the banks of the Ganga on Tuesday before filing his nomination from the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency. He also performed aarti at the ghat amid chanting of Vedic mantras.

PM Shares ‘Kashi Connect’ Video 

PM on his X handle, shared a special video, deliberating upon his connect with the city of Varanasi and its people. “My relationship with my Kashi is amazing, inseparable and incomparable… all I can say is that it cannot be expressed in words!” shared the Prime Minister while sharing the video. 

Dip in Ganga, Prayers At  Kaal Bhairav

The prime minister filed his nomination papers after offering prayers at the Kaal Bhairav temple.

Modi also offered prayers at the Dashashwamedh Ghat on the banks of the Ganga around 9 am.

According to the itinerary, the prime minister also took a cruise trip to the Namo Ghat in the city ahead of filing nomination papers. Following the nomination process, Modi held a meeting with BJP workers at the Rudraksha Convention Centre.

Senior Leaders Present

For the nomination filing of Prime Minister Modi, senior BJP leaders including Union Home Minister Amit Shah were present in Varanasi.

The BJP's NDA partners Lok Dal president Jayant Chaudhary, LJP chief Chirag Paswan, Apna Dal (S) president Anupriya Patel and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party president Omprakash Rajbhar were also among the attendees. 

Besides Adityanath, chief ministers Pushkar Singh Dhami (Uttarakhand), Mohan Yadav (Madhya Pradesh), Vishnu Deo Sai (Chhattisgarh), Eknath Shinde (Maharashtra), Bhajan Lal Sharma (Rajasthan), Himanta Biswa Sharma (Assam), Nayab Singh Saini (Haryana), Pramod Sawant (Goa), Prem Singh Tamang (Sikkim) and Manik Saha (Tripura) reportedly attended the prime minister's nomination filing. 

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