Varanasi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi submitted his nomination papers from the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency on Tuesday, accompanied by Pandit Ganeshwar Shastri, who finalised the ‘muhurat’ for the pran-pratishtha of Lord Ram in Ayodhya, among his four proposers.
The other three proposers for Prime Minister Narendra Modi were Baijnath Patel, an RSS volunteer from the OBC (Other Backward Classes) community, Lalchand Kushwaha, also from the OBC community, and Sanjay Sonkar, belonging to the Dalit community.
Following the nomination filing, several Union Ministers and leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) were seen with the Prime Minister, showing solidarity. Among those present were Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP national president JP Nadda, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, LJP-Ram Vilas chief Chirag Paswan, Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and Rashtriya Lok Morcha chief Upendra Kushwaha.
Before filing his nomination, PM Modi performed prayers at the Dasaswamedh Ghat on the banks of River Ganga. Expressing his emotional bond with Varanasi, also known as Kashi, he stated that his relationship with the city is “inseparable and incomparable.”
Sharing a video expressing his love for Kashi and his evolving relationship with River Ganga over the years, PM Modi highlighted the significance of his connection with the city.
“When I visited Kashi in 2014, I felt I was invited to the city by ‘Ma Ganga’. However, today, after 10 years of my visit to Kashi, I can say ‘Aaj Ma Ganga ne mujhe god le liya hai’ (today Ma Ganga has adopted me),” PM Modi said in the video.
“Ten years have passed, and my bond with Kashi has only grown stronger. I now refer to it as ‘my Kashi’. I feel a mother-son relationship with Kashi,” an emotional Prime Minister Modi added.
PM Modi, who first contested from Varanasi in 2014 as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, is seeking a third consecutive term from the Varanasi seat. The voting for the seat will be held on June 1 in the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha election.
On Monday, PM Modi held a grand roadshow in Varanasi and pledged to do much more to serve the holy city during his third term.
