Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday filed his nomination papers from Varanasi.
Top NDA leaders including Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Parkash Singh Badal, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, AIADMK leaders O Panneerselvam and M Thambidurai and BJP leaders like Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari and party president Amit Shah were present at the district magistrate’s office as PM Narendra Modi filed his election documents.
Modi won this seat in 2014 over Aam Aadmi Party’s Arvind Kejriwal. Congress’s Ajay Rai settled for third position.
Ahead of filing the papers, PM Modi visited the Kaal Bhairav temple and offered prayers.
“Before filing my nomination papers, prayed at the temple of Bhagwan Kaal Bhairav, also revered as the Kotwal of Kashi,” PM Modi tweeted.
On Thursday, PM Modi held a mega roadshow in Varanasi and passed by ancient temples and ghats. The roadshow which began from the iconic Banaras Hindu University (BHU ended in the holiest ghat of them all, the Dashashwamedh.
Modi also attended the evening aarti at this ghat on the banks of the river Ganga.
Varanasi will go to polls in the last phase of the Lok Sabha election on May 19 and the counting of votes will take place on May 23.
