PM Modi offers prayers at Dashashwamedh Ghat in Varanasi

VARANASI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered prayers at Dashashwamedh Ghat on the banks of the Ganges in Varanasi before filling his nomination from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat today in Uttar Pradesh.

Today also marks the auspicious day of Ganga Saptami and PM Modi participated in prayers and performed the Ganga Aarti at the Ghat

PM Modi the sitting MP and BJP's candiatate will file his nomination papers from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat for the 2024 general elections, from where he has secured wins with large margins for the past two consecutive terms.

PM Modi will then offer prayers at Kal Bhairav Temple before filing his nomination.

PM Modi is seeking a third term and hoping for a record margin.

Varanasi goes in for polling on June 1 in the seventh and last phase of the general elections.

Security has been strengthened outside the office of the District Magistrate in Varanasi ahead of PM Modi's nomination.

Ahead of the nomination, the Bharatiya Janata Party said in a post in hindi on X that the temple town of Kashi is once again ready to send its servant (PM Modi) to the Parliament.

"I have neither come here nor has anyone sent me here, Maa Ganga has called me... This relationship between Kashi, Kashi residents and the Chief Servant is one of development, trust and affection. Kashi is once again ready to send its beloved chief servant to the parliament by winning him with record votes," BJP posted.

PM Modi also posted on X about his association with the city. "My relationship with my Kashi is amazing, inseparable and incomparable... all I can say is that it cannot be expressed in words!"

Voting in Varanasi will be held on June 1 in the seventh and last phase of the Lok Sabha polls.

On Monday evening, PM Modi held an extravagant roadshow in Varanasi on a five-kilometre-stretch on Monday evening.

PM Modi was accompanied by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and BJP state president Chaudhary Bhupendra Singh. The whole stretch reverberated with 'Har Har Mahadev' and 'Jai Shree Ram' chants as a huge crowd of supporters and residents gathered on either side of the road to cheer the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister Narendra started his roadshow by garlanding the statue of Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya at the Singh Dwar of Kashi Hindu University at around 5 pm. After more than two and a half hours, the roadshow concluded at the Kashi Vishwanath Dham. After the roadshow, the Prime Minister offered prayers at the Kashi Vishwanath Dham along with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other BJP leaders.

Varanasi is the stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party and PM Modi. He won the seat 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.