Tajesh Kale (Varanasi)
Once again the world's attention is focused on Baba Vishwanath's city of Kashi or Varanasi, situated on the banks of the holy Ganges River and one of the leading pilgrimage sites for Hindus. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing election for the third time from Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency. Last time, Modi had won with a record margin of 4 lakh 79 thousand 505 votes. It is being assured that this year too, Modi will achieve the hat-trick of Prime Ministership by keeping this record intact.
In his constituency, Varanasi, Modi has created a flood of development in the last ten years. He has transformed all the ghats including water purification in the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor to Namami Ganga scheme. Along with the Jaljeevan Mission, Prime Minister Modi has inaugurated development works worth around Rs 1780 crore such as passenger rope-way. More than 7 crore tourists from all over the world have visited Kashi in the last one year. They have also achieved economic progress and employment through tourism. Therefore, it is a fact that the people of Varanasi will cast votes again in Modi's parade.
Uttar Pradesh Congress President Ajay Rai has entered the fray for the third time against Narendra Modi. In the 2019 elections, Narendra Modi had soundly defeated SP candidate Shalini Yadav. Modi got 6 lakh 74 thousand 664 votes. It was 50 percent of the total number of voters. Rival Shalini Yadav had to settle for just 1 lakh 95 thousand votes. Ajay Rai of Congress was at the third position.
Modi held the record of winning Varanasi with the highest number of votes. Before that, in the 2014 elections too, Modi won with a margin of 3 lakh 37 thousand votes. At that time, Aam Aadmi Party leader and current Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal challenged Modi.
Despite Kejriwal's efforts, he did not get the desired success. Narendra Modi had received a total of 5 lakh 16 thousand 593 votes at that time. While his rival Arvind Kejriwal got only 1 lakh 79 thousand 739 votes. Ajay Rai was at the third position. The deposits of BSP's Vijaykumar Jaiswal and SP's Kailas Chaurasia were confiscated.
Modi became the Prime Minister by winning both the 2014 and 2019 elections. So it has been seen that this year's election is not too difficult for Modi.
Congress has once again given Ajay Rai a chance to fight against Narendra Modi. Rai is going to be the India Aghadi candidate because of the alliance between Congress and SP in Uttar Pradesh. The number of votes Rai will get this year is likely to increase due to SP's support.
Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party has nominated Atahar Jamal Lari. He is fighting against the Prime Minister for the first time. Lari has been active in politics since the 1980s. He has contested Lok Sabha election twice and Vidhan Sabha election thrice. He was a Janata Party candidate in 1984. He was defeated by Shyamlal Yadav of Congress.
Lari got only 50 thousand votes. The second time was in 2004 when he contested from Sonelal Patel's Apna Dal party. He got 93 thousand 228 votes then. He was defeated by Rajesh Kumar Mishra of Congress. Atahar Jamal Lari contested the 2012 assembly elections from the Qaumi Ekta Dal party of notorious gangster Mukhtar Ansari, who died recently in jail. Lari has come into the limelight for fighting against Modi. It is being discussed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will win the record for the third time with a huge margin in the fight with Ajay Rai and Lari.
