The Varanasi Lok Sabha Constituency Race Against PM Modi has been Reduced to Just Six Candidates

In 2014, when Modi contested elections from Varanasi Lok Sabha Constituency for the first time and became PM, he won by 3.72 lakh votes or 56.37% vote share against second-place Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

In 2019, when Modi again won from this seat and his government returned to power at the Centre, the PM’s victory margin increased to 4.59 lakh votes – 63.6% vote share – against his nearest rival Samajwadi Party’s candidate Shalini Yadav.

While in 2014, 41 candidates were in the fray against Modi – 19 of them independents – in 2019, 26 candidates contested against the PM, eight of whom were independents.

This time, initially 41 candidates filed their nomination papers for Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, out of which one withdrew his name. Seven candidates ultimately managed to get through the screening process.

Voting will be held in the final phase in Varanasi on June 1, three days before the results are declared.

Since 1991, the BJP has won the seat seven times, losing only once in 2004 to Congress’s Rajesh Kumar Mishra. In 2009, before Modi chose the constituency for his Lok Sabha debut, it was won by veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi.

The majority of voters in the constituency are upper caste Hindus, including Brahmins, Bhumihars and Jaiswals, followed by Muslims and OBCs.

A look at the six candidates who remain in the race:

Name of the Candidate	Party Name	Number of Cases
Ajay Rai	Congress	18
Ather Jamal	BSP	01
Kolisetty Shiva Kumar	Yuva Thulasi Party	0
Gagan Prasad Yadav	Apna Dal	05
Dinesh Kumar Yadav	Independent	0
Sanjay Kumar Tiwari	Independent	0

Ajay Rai an old leader from the region, who has the image of a strong leader and has several cases against him in the state, Rai is contesting the elections as the India Bloc candidate on the Congress symbol. While he also contested from Varanasi in the 2009, 2014 and 2019 elections and lost by a wide margin, he remains the strongest challenger to Modi in the race.

Rai had contested elections in 2014 and 2019 on Congress ticket and in 2009 on SP ticket. Every time he stood third.

The 53-year-old has also been a five-time MLA, four times from Kolasla seat and once from Pindra. He won from Kolasla thrice on BJP symbol and once as an independent. He was the Congress MLA from Pindra Assembly seat of Varanasi from 2012 to 2017.

In August last year, Congress had appointed Rai as Uttar Pradesh president in place of former Rajya Sabha member Brijlal Khabri.

Also Read: Lok-Sabha Elections 2024: Know When Voting is Taking Place in Your State and Seat