Prime Minister Narendra Modi filed his nomination papers for the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat on Friday, 26 April, accompanied by a galaxy of top BJP and NDA leaders in a massive show of strength for the country's ruling alliance.
"Some people are creating an atmosphere that Modi ji has already won (the election) and it is fine not to vote. Please don't fall into their trap. Voting is your right and everyone must exercise it," Modi said after filing his papers.
The prime minister, who reached in Varanasi on Thursday and brought life to a standstill as he held a seven-kilometre roadshow through the town, also addressed party workers in the morning.
On being asked about terror-accused Pragya Thakur contesting on a BJP ticket, in an interview with India Today in Varanasi, PM Modi said that the allegations against her were a result of the lies being spread by Congress.
Bihar Chief Minister and JD-U chief Nitish Kumar, Union minister and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan, Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackarey and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patron Parkash Singh Badal were with Modi at the Collectorate as Modi filed his papers, seeking a second term in the Lok Sabha from the constituency.
BJP leaders, including party president Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and senior Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj, were also present on the occasion.
- While the last five years were about his government making sincere efforts, the next five will be about results, Modi said
- The four people who proposed his name were carefully chosen, each from a different caste – Shukla is a Brahmin, Chowdhary a Dalit, Patel an OBC (other backward classes) and Gupta a Baniya.
- Modi, who also participated in the “Ganga aarti” at the Dashashwamedh ghat, addressed a late night meeting in Varanasi on Thursday, 25 April too
- In 2014, Modi won the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, defeating Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal by a massive margin of 3.37 lakh vote
- Rai is the Congress candidate again this time from the constituency that goes to the polls on 19 May.
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