Narendra Modi to file nomination on April 26, key allies to join in

Major ally leaders of the BJP like Nitish Kumar and Ram Vilas Paswan, party president Amit Shah and multiple BJP Chief Ministers and senior Union Ministers like Rajnath Singh are expected be present in Varanasi when Prime Minister Narendra Modi files his nomination on April 26.

To make it an auspicious occasion as per Hindu beliefs, Modi will pay obeisance at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple during his mega road show on April 25, do a Ganga Aarti at Dashwamedh Ghat that evening and visit the Kal Bhairav Temple on the morning of April 26 before filing his nomination that day. It is a belief that no visit to Varanasi can be complete without paying obeisance at the Kal Bhairav Temple, who is considered the ‘Kotwal of Kashi’. Modi had first visited the Kal Bhairav temple in 2017 during the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

To put up a big NDA show, BJP allies like Nitish Kumar and Ram Vilas Paswan could be present on the nomination day in Varanasi, with other BJP CMs and senior government ministers. The Dom Raja of Kashi, a kin of the late Ustad Bismillah Khan and a local boatman may be among the ‘proposers’ for the PM’s nomination papers. Shah will arrive in Varanasi on April 24. BJP workers have gone door-to-door to distribute “invitations” to people to join the road show.

“Dear Kashivasis, BJP wants to thank you from the bottom of our heart for the wide public support, co-operation and love given to Narendra Modi in 2014. If the past five years were about fulfilling the needs of Kashi, the next five years are about fulfilling the aspirations of Kashi – this is wish of everyone. The fresh energy from you will go towards nation-building,” the invite says. The road show will pass through BHU, Lanka, Assi, Sonarpura, Madanpura, Guadalia and end at Dashwamedh Ghat. A BJP election office in Varanasi will be unveiled before PMs visit and Modi will meet some “eminent citizens” of Varanasi on April 25 night.

The PM will also be doing five rallies across four states on April 25 and 26 besides his engagements in Varanasi. On April 25, he would first fly out to Darbhanga in Bihar for a rally followed by one in Banda in UP before he lands in Varanasi to begin his road show. On April 26, after filing his nomination, PM will fly out from Varanasi to Madhya Pradesh for rallies in Sidhi and Jabalpur and later that evening hold a rally in Mumbai. On April 27, the PM will hold rallies in Kannauj from where Samajwadi Party’s Dimple Yadav is contesting, besides in Sitapur and Hardoi. BJP is keen to take the fight to the SP in Kannauj with PM’s rally.