Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in Varanasi to file his nomination, gave a statement to media, urging people to come out and vote in large numbers, after filing his nomination papers on Friday, 26 April. However, he did not take any questions from the press.
“Request people to vote peacefully in this festival of democracy,” the prime minister said.
He added that some people thought that Modi had already won the elections and did not come out to vote. He urged such people to not think like that and help him register a bigger win.
“Aisa mahaul kuch log ab banane lage hain ki Modi ji toh jeet gaye aur vote nahi karoge toh chalega. Kripa karke aise logon ki bataon mein mat aiye. Matdaan apka haq hai, loktanta ek utsav hai, zada se zada matdaan karna chahiye desh mazboot karne ke liye. (Some people are spreading misinformation by claiming that Modi has already won... so there is no point in voting for him. Please do not heed to such comments. Voting is your right, elections are a festival of democracy... the more you vote, the stronger the nation will become.)”PM Narendra Modi
There was a scheduled event for 26 April at 12:30 pm on PM Modi's YouTube page, titled 'PM Modi's Interaction with Members of Media in Varanasi’, soon after the filing of his nomination papers, scheduled for the same day.
Reports of the prime minister holding an official press conference had surfaced earlier. However, this was later denied by the BJP.
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