Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday performed Ganga Aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat ahead of filing his nomination papers for the Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi. Hindu saints chanted Vedic mantras as the PM performed the aarti.
Following the prayers, Modi boarded a cruise ship at the Dashashwamedh ghat. He is next scheduled to offer prayers at Baba Kaal Bhairav temple.
After that, he will go to the Varanasi collectorate to file his nomination papers.
Modi’s four proposers for the Lok Sabha nomination are — Pandit Ganeshwar Shastri, member of the Brahmin community; Baijnath Patel, an old RSS volunteer and belonging to the OBC community; Lalchand Kushwaha, also from the OBC community and Sanjay Sonkar, who belongs to the Dalit community.
Top NDA leaders, including Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde, former Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu, former Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi, Omprakash Rajbhar, Sanjay Nishad, and Ramdas Athwale reached Varanasi collectorate to accompany the PM during his nomination.
Former Andhra Pradesh CM and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu termed Modi’s nomination filing from Varanasi a historic event and said that NDA will cross 400-mark in the elections.
The prime minister is eying a third straight term from Varanasi, a seat he has been representing in the Lok Sabha since 2014. In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Modi registered a clear victory, garnering more than 63 per cent votes.