Prime Minister Narendra Modi, looking for a hat-trick from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat in the June 1 elections, is not fighting against any opponent this time but to win by a record margin.

Having coined a new slogan “Abki baar, 10 lakh paar”, the BJP is leaving no stone unturned to meet its target by all means as a challenge. The attendant tension is no deterrent on the party’s efforts to increase the victory margin of Modi.

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Kashi happens to be a city of extremities in every matter. Be it political or apolitical, everything here is in excess. It is equally true that people here believe in verbal revolution as they happen to be voluble. Every person here is a political pundit. Political analysis can be found here in abundance with adequate expertise right up to the roads and intersections.

However, this factor is not reflected in the voting otherwise, going by the political structure, there should have been 80 per cent voting. As a matter of fact, voting here never goes beyond the 60-per cent mark.

Another aspect of the people here is that they are playful yet temperamental. Hence, their behaviour is often unpredictable. No one would mind if it is called the Lok Sabha seat with the most complex electorate in the country. This is the city that puts up with the most odds yet remains the most carefree.

In this election, there is a direct contest between PM Narendra Modi and Congress candidate Ajay Rai, who is also the UP Congress president. The BSP has fielded a Muslim candidate, Athar Jamal Lari, who is almost out of contention.

Apart from Modi, the biggest name among the seven contenders in the fray is Ajay Rai. Apart from being the state Congress president, he is a five-time MLA. As for Athar Jamal Lari, as a leader of weavers, he contested many elections. Come next the name of Gagan Prakash Yadav of Apna Dal Kamerawadi. He is a candidate of the PDM, a party with the dominance of Patels.

PM Modi, after filing his nominations after a roadshow, did not come here for the campaign as he heavily relied on party workers and leaders. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP President J P Nadda, and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath worked tirelessly to woo the workers as well as the voters.

On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav held a joint rally while Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Dimple Yadav held a roadshow in the temple city in support of Ajay Rai.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi also addressed a rally in support of the Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) candidate.

The election this time is different in many ways as it can either benefit the PM in gaining a record victory margin or the Opposition will put a spanner on his victory margin.

This is because firstly, there are just eight candidates in the fray this time while there were 43 and 27 candidates in 2014 in 2019, respectively. Secondly, with the SP and Congress together this time Muslim votes won’t split. In 2019, the SP had polled around 1.95 lakh (18.4 per cent) votes and Congress had 1.52 lakh (14.48 per cent). Even if these many votes are received by each of them, it comes to around 3.5 lakh votes that go to the combined Opposition against PM Modi’s previous record of 6.74 lakh votes, which was 63.6 per cent of the total votes cast.

Despite fielding a Muslim candidate, the BSP does not seem to be getting its share of votes. The party is not a priority in Kashi’s scheme of things. First, it changed the candidate twice. Then star campaigners were kept away from the constituency leaving the voters confused. Last time, the BSP fought the elections in alliance with the SP, but this time it chose to go it alone.

In the past, more than one Muslim candidate contested from Kashi in every election because of which Muslim votes used to be divided. In 2019 and 2014, four Muslim candidates contested the election from here.

However, the BJP is bound to have an edge over the rest as it has the advantage of the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor. This is the first election after the corridor was inaugurated by the prime minister. At the same time, the party will benefit from the construction and consecration of Ram temple in Ayodhya.

For the first time, a conference for women was held in Kashi. It was so big that no party ever held such an event anywhere. Everything from its operation to management was in the hands of women. This is considered to be a Brahmastra to help half the population.

On the other hand, the BJP has, for the first time, given a hint of the outcome by mobilising a big army during the nomination itself. Around 16 national party presidents, three CMs, and four Union ministers including the Defence Minister were present at the time of the nomination.

In the last week of campaigning after the nomination, Kashi was made the centre of political tourism. Ministers were seen having tea and doing yoga on the streets.

Hindus make up 75 per cent of the total population in the Varanasi constituency with 20 per cent Muslim and 5 per cent people from other religions. The population is divided between 65 per cent urban and 35 per cent rural. Of the total number of residents, 10.1 per cent belong to Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Scheduled Castes (SC) who account for 0.7 per cent.

The vote share of the winning candidates has been fluctuating over the years. The BJP had won with a 33.4 per cent share in 1999 and Congress with a 32.6 per cent in 2004. In 2009, Murli Manohar Joshi registered his victory with a 30.5 per cent vote share, which went up massively to 56.4 per cent for Narendra Modi in 2014 and further to 63.6 per cent in 2019.