Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Samajwadi Party leader Dimple Yadav and INDIA coalition candidate from Varanasi constituency Ajay Rai of the Congress during a roadshow in Varanasi on May 25.
| Photo Credit: PTI
For Sudhir Maurya, it’s a third consecutive Lok Sabha election campaign trip to Varanasi in the last 10 years. Mr. Maurya, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker from Prayagraj, said: “I am dedicating my two weeks to make sure the margin of victory crosses the previous two elections and Kashi creates a record not only in U.P. but entire India.” He is among thousands of saffron party leaders and workers who thronged the holy city of Varanasi, also known as Kashi, considered by many as Hinduism’s holiest city.
The Varanasi Lok Sabha seat is one of the most important constituencies among the total of 543 parliamentary seats with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi aiming for a third consecutive victory since choosing it as a launchpad in 2014 as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the BJP. The constituency is going to the polls on June 1 in the final phase.
The BJP is eyeing a record margin of victory with workers and leaders from different parts of Uttar Pradesh and some from other parts of India campaigning extensively for Mr. Modi with karyakartas (workers) in their door-to-door outreach highlighting what they describe as an unprecedented transformation of Kashi and asking voters to send a positive message in the likely third term of Mr. Modi.
The pamphlets circulated by the BJP workers highlight initiatives like the recent unveiling of a new ropeway project that will revolutionise travel within the city by drastically reducing travel time between Banaras Cantonment Railway Station and the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, inauguration of Banas Kashi Sankul milk processing unit, various infrastructure work at UPSIDA Agro Park, and silk fabric printing common facility and foundation stone for National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Varanasi.
“The city has been transformed; Modiji promised to further change the face of the entire region of Purvanchal in next five years whose epicentre is Varanasi,” said Mahendra Pandey, a local BJP leader.
In 2019, Mr. Modi polled 6,74,664 votes, which is roughly 63% of the total votes polled, as his nearest rival Shalini Yadav of the Samajwadi Party (SP) secured 1,95,159 votes with the PM emerging victorious by over 4,78,000 votes. Ajay Rai, the present opposition INDIA bloc nominee who contested as a Congress candidate, polled 1,52,548 votes. Mr. Rai also contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls against Mr. Modi and came third polling 75,614 votes.
Local roots
Mr. Rai, who is also the Uttar Pradesh Congress president, is continuously campaigning in the constituency this time around highlighting his local roots pushing the ‘migrant’ or ‘outsider’ narrative claiming that only if the ‘outsider’ is shown the exit door would the ‘Ganga-Jamuni culture of Kashi’ be saved. He said that this time, the people have made up their mind to remove the ‘outsider’. “Every Kashi resident now has only one slogan — remove the migrant, save Kashi,” reads a hoarding of the Congress at Bhojubeer Chauraha. “Modiji writes letters to 2,000 people of Varanasi asking for votes. When thousands of people died during the coronavirus period, then why did Modiji not send a letter of condolence,” asked Mr. Rai in one of his public meetings. The people of Kashi must ask these questions to the Prime Minister before casting their votes.
“In the Assi Ghat, the carcass of a cow is openly floating in the Ganga. There is no one to take care of it. Did Maa Ganga call him here to see such days,” added the Congress nominee in another meeting. Mr. Rai, a five-time former MLA, claims that only a son of the soil can understand the needs of Varanasi. Facing an uphill task, the Congress candidate got many top Opposition leaders including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav to hold a joint meeting and former Congress U.P. in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Mainpuri MP Dimple Yadav to hold roadshows with all these leaders alleging that the transformation has brought destruction in Varanasi with old heritage buildings lost forever.
In Varanasi, Muslims constitute roughly 14% of the electorate, Brahmins are considered to be around 10%, the Yadav community is nearly 8%, while the Bhumihars from which Mr. Rai hails is believed to be around 5%.