Lok Sabha constituencies Varanasi As early as 2014, India became the focus of national attention when the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi won the seat by a margin of 370,000 votes. Since then, Modi’s personal charm and appeal have occupied VIP seats, making it difficult for any opposition party to achieve significant results.
Modi retained the seat by 480,000 votes in 2019 and will contest in the constituency for the third time this year. PPP leaders in the region have announced their bold ambition to achieve “Ab ki baar 1 million palls” in terms of votes and a victory margin of 700,000. The seat has been a BJP stronghold since 1991, with a near-perfect record interrupted only once by the Congress victory in 2004.
Prime Minister Modi’s Varanasi report card lists the Kashgar Golden Corridor, Ring Road construction, development of efficient road and bridge network, cancer hospital, cricket stadium construction and cleaning as key achievements and infrastructure projects.
News18 spoke to residents of the constituency, local leaders, opposition candidates and even tourists to assess the impact of the Modi factor and the legitimacy of the BJP’s goals in the constituency.
The only debate here seems to be the margin of victory for Modi.
“He has a family-like emotional connection with everyone here”
Arun Pathak, a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council, believes that Modi is not an outsider in this constituency but a family member of all residents. “Modi has a familial and emotional connection with everyone in Varanasi. He understands their struggles and problems and works hard to solve them,” Pathak said. “He was a son, brother and father to everyone here.”
Modi’s campaign in Varanasi was limited to roadshows before he filed his nomination but still swept the seat by a wide margin. Commenting on this, Shashi Kumar, co-convenor of the Kashgar IT cell of the Bharatiya Janata Party, said that Modi does not need to be like an opposition party just to participate in elections. But instead, as prime minister, he visited the holy city more than 50 times, more than any other prime minister in history.
“The effectiveness of Modi’s Swachh Bharat mission has been demonstrated in Kashgar and the cleanliness of the constituency has set an example for the rest of the country,” said BJP leader Mohit Beniwal. “From Kashi to Ayo Tiya, the whole of Uttar Pradesh is developing.”
Popular slogans such as “Modi jaisa koi nahi” and “Modi hai aur rahenge” echoed in popular Kashgar Bandar chat rooms as workers praised the prime minister for development work that has significantly increased tourism in the city and boosted the economy increase.
Talking about the development of Kashgar’s Golden Corridor, some scholars of ancient Varanasi attributed the city’s strength as a center of science, religion and culture to Prime Minister Modi. “He is a prime minister who does not focus on today’s India but sees it as a world leader. He strives to restore India to its former glory and uses religion and culture to unite the country,” they said.
At a tea stall near Dashashwamedh Ghat, a Varanasi resident said Modi could vote because of what he had done for Hinduism. “We will all vote for him on religious topics. We vote for him because he is spreading and promoting our religion. If he comes to power again, he will build more temples,” he said.
opposition
Quite a number of candidates will contest against Prime Minister Modi in the Varanasi elections. Congress MP Ajay Rai, Bahujan Samaj Party’s Athar Jamal Lari, comedian and popular Modi impersonator Shyam Rangeela, 111 farmers from Tamil Nadu and a transgender activist have announced that they will contest the election.
Rai, the Congress president, will contest the Varanasi seat against Modi for the third time. He has been running in the district since 2009 but has finished third each time. Rai began his political career as a karyakarta (worker) in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and then joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. However, after being rejected from Varanasi Lok Sabha elections in 2007, he left the party and joined the Samajwadi Party. In 2012, he moved to Congress.
His re-nomination as the India Group candidate reflects the Congress party’s reluctance to try and adopt a different tack in an important and symbolically important seat.
Rai will file his nomination on May 10, which will be followed by a bicycle parade to show his strength.
“Rai” by Ajie
“The BJP government is yet to fulfill any of its election promises and guarantees – unemployment, corruption and inflation remain major issues that the entire country is grappling with,” Rai told News18.
He labeled Modi an outsider in Gujarat and said the only development done by Gujaratis in Varanasi was to serve their own interests and line their pockets. “Whatever development happened in Varanasi was incomplete, disorganized and superficial. No real work was done and they just painted a grandiose picture of the failed work,” he said.
Talking about what more Modi can do in the constituency, some residents said: “Crowding, poverty and inflation are major problems, especially for the middle-class population. Although Modi has good intentions, corruption, deceit and and looting hampered his work. His intentions had not yet translated to the party workers below him.
Observers say Modi’s influence with residents, coupled with the Congress party’s previous and failed attempts to use Rai as an opposition candidate, have made the Varanasi election virtually uncontested and clearly one-sided. of.
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