File photo of PM Modi during a roadshow in Varanasi
Credit: Reuters Photo
New Delhi: The prime minister’s constituency, Varanasi, will be the centre from which the BJP will carry out its poll-related activities after the sixth phase of polling is over.
Sources in the BJP said that PM Modi will base himself in his constituency from May 26 to June 1, while he carries out rallies and campaigns in nearby seats in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar as well as West Bengal.
BJP leaders DH spoke to, said that this is part of the norm – in the 2014 and 2019 elections, too, the prime minister had positioned in the seat. Varanasi, along with 12 more seats in Uttar Pradesh, is among the 57 seats that will head to the polls in the final phase.
Soon after polling for the sixth phase will be over on May 25, PM Modi will spend the night at Varanasi till June 1, said BJP leaders. During these days, apart from campaigning in Varanasi, the prime minister will hold rallies in Buxar, Karakat and Patliputra in Bihar, as well as seats in Eastern UP and West Bengal.
Sources in the party said that the prime minister will hold an organisational ‘baithak’ in Varanasi during the period. “Last time, he held a meeting with karyakartas, and on Tuesday, he held a meeting with women voters, where 10 women each from the 1,909 booths were mobilised,” a leader from the party’s UP unit, involved in the preparations, told DH.
PM Modi has, in the last fortnight, made two visits to Varanasi, and a day before he filed his nomination on May 14, he spent a night in his seat. On the day of his nomination, Modi paid his respects at the Kashi Vishwanath temple.
Sources in the Uttar Pradesh unit of the BJP said that in the state, the prime minister has already held 30 rallies and if one adds roadshows, then the number crosses 40. In Bengal, Modi has till now held 25 rallies.
A senior spokesperson of the party, not wishing to be named, said that Modi makes adjustments in his schedule to accommodate his seat. “Despite his popularity, PM Modi makes it a point to set aside time for his seat, and makes it a point to appeal for votes, unlike Opposition leaders who abandon their seats after they win or they lose,” the spokesperson said, adding that in the last decade the prime minister has held at least 50 programmes in Varanasi.
Till now, BJP sources said, PM Modi has carried out more than 250 rallies across the country in this election season. In the runup to the 2014 general elections, when he was first elected from Varanasi, Modi had carried out as many as 437 rallies in the month ahead of the polls.