Modi files Varanasi nomination after saffron roadshow

New Delhi: Leading a 2km-long roadshow, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Thursday filed his nomination papers for the Lok Sabha elections constituency of Varanasi, more than a month after wresting it from former party president Murli Manohar Joshi.

The Congress party, later, complained with Election Commission (EC) regarding the roadshow and demanded an FIR against Modi for “violation” of the model code of conduct.

Modi was accompanied by Giridhar Malaviya, a retired judge of the Allahabad high court and grandson of Benaras Hindu University founder Madan Mohan Malaviya, classical singer Chandu Lal Mishra, Virbhadra Nishad, a boatman, and Ashok, a weaver, all of whom proposed his name.

In an effort to boost the morale of BJP workers, Modi stopped at statues of Vallabhbhai Patel and Malaviya to pay floral tributes to the two freedom fighters.

“I am overwhelmed by the support of the people. I used to think that BJP had sent me to Varanasi but now I feel like child who meets his mother,” Modi said. “I want to serve the people of the city and I hope Kashi becomes the spiritual capital of the world.”

Also accompanying him were party vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, general secretary Amit Shah and Ravi Shankar Prasad, deputy leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha.

In a reference to the large community of weavers in Varanasi, Modi said there was a need for technological upgradation, branding, designing and global marketing to improve their condition. “There is no reason why weavers of Varanasi cannot compete with China,” he said.

The battle in Varanasi has become interesting because of the presence of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal, who is contesting against Modi. Kejriwal, who defeated three time chief minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit, in the Delhi state assembly election last year, has been holding road shows and election meetings in Varanasi for the past few days.

Varanasi is considered a safe seat by the BJP, which picked the holy city for Modi to influence voters in the rest of Uttar Pradesh as well as Bihar.

But the seat didn’t come to Modi easily.

The Gujarat chief minister had to struggle within his own party because Joshi, who was elected from the seat in the previous Lok Sabha, didn’t want to part with the prestigious constituency. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological parent of BJP, had to intervene to convince Joshi to vacate the seat and shift to Kanpur instead, which he did in mid-March.