All arrangements are in place for polling in the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying his luck for the third consecutive time.
A total of 19.97 lakh voters will decide the fate of seven candidates on June 1. Of the 19,97,577 voters, 9,13,692 are females. Voting will be held in 1,909 polling booths.
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As many as 37,226 first-time voters aged between 18 and 19 will also exercise their franchise.
Mr. Modi held a roadshow and addressed a Nari Shakti conference in Varanasi before filing his nomination papers on May 14. He has not addressed any poll rally in the constituency.
U.P. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Ministers and other Ministers in the U.P. government campaigned in Varanasi and sought votes for Mr. Modi.
In 2019, Mr. Modi polled 6,74,664 votes, which was roughly 63 per cent of the total votes polled, while his nearest rival Shalini Yadav of the Samajwadi Party (SP) got 1,95,159 votes. Ajay Rai, the present Opposition INDIA bloc nominee who contested as a Congress candidate then, had polled 1,52,548 votes.
In 2014, Mr. Modi polled 5,81,022 votes, which was roughly 56 per cent of the total votes polled, while his nearest rival Arvind Kejriwal got 2,09,238 votes.
This year, Mr. Rai, the main challenger, has highlighted his local roots and claimed that only if the “outsider” is shown the door, can the Ganga-Jamuni [composite] culture of Kashi be saved. The BJP is banking on PM’s popularity, with many leaders asking voters to create a record margin of victory.
