Will Varanasi chant NaMo mantra again?

Varanasi: Will Varanasi elect Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again? The answer to this question appears obvious if one goes around the spiritual city, the celestial home of Kasi Viswanath.

"The contours of Varanasi have changed in last five years. We have good roads. The city is clean.

Prime Minister has taken up several other projects. What more we can expect from him? He is des ki netha," Radeshyam, a young rickshaw puller, told The Hans India.

He is confident that Modi will become Prime Minister again and will do more for Varanasi and the country.

Hailing from an interior district of Uttar Pradesh, he admitted that the Modi government had not done much for his village and district. "But he is doing something good for the country. That's important. Let him continue," he says.

Sonu Dubey, a priest at Dashashwamedh Ghat near Viswanath Temple, says that Varanasi witnessed huge development in last five years. "That is primarily because of Modiji.

The country needs people like him. He will win here hands down. Furthermore, there is no one from Opposition who can challenge him in Varanasi," he observes.

There are some dissenting voices as well. A trader finds fault with the Modi government's decision to take up Kasi Vishwanath Corridor project which has affected a large number of people, including small traders.

"Did we ask him to do it?" he questions. However, majority of people The Hans India spoke to in Varanasi have rooted for Modi. They are also confident that he will become Prime Minister again as "there is no leader who can match him at this point of time".

In 2014, Gujarati strongman Modi contested from two parliament seats – Vadodara in Gujarat where he won with 5.7 lakh majority and Varanasi where he secured a majority of 3.71 lakh against Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Admi Party (AAP).

He retained Varanasi seat which comprises five assembly constituencies of Rohaniya, Varanasi North, Varanasi South, Varanasi Cantonment and Sevapuri.

Though there is no Modi wave across the country this time on the lines of 2014 when BJP won 282 seats on its own, BJP is on a strong-footing in Varanasi Lok Sabha now as it won all five assembly seats in 2017 UP elections.

In this election, Modi is pitted against Ajay Rai of Congress and Shalini Yadav of Samajwadi Party. Ajay Rai is in the fray for third time in a row. He contested on Congress ticket in 2014 and stood third with 75,614 votes.

He fared better at third position with 1.23 lakh votes in 2009 when he was in the fray on SP ticket. Mayawati-led BSP, which stood third with 60,000 votes in 2014, is not contesting now as part of the SP-BSP alliance. Varanasi, which has 17.99 lakh voters, will go to poll on May 19, the last phase.

"Entire Varanasi is behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi who developed the spiritual city like never before. If election is held today, he will get a majority of 5 lakh votes.

But we want our Prime Minister to get an all-time record margin of seven lakh. We are working hard to achieve the monumental goal" Navaratan Rathi, a senior leader and spokesperson for BJP in Varanasi, told The Hans India.

Listing out 23 major projects undertaken by the Modi government, he said the central government earmarked Rs 34,000 crore for the development of the constituency in the last five years.

Foremost among the projects is Kasi Vishwanath Corridor which is being built between Vishwanath Temple and Manikarnika Ghat with an outlay of Rs 600 crore.

First phase (Rs 759 crore) of Ring Road, multimodal terminal (Rs 208 crore), highways and bridges are among others. "Nearly 70 per cent of works in these projects have been completed so far," he said.

However, Congress is also confident of its victory. "Modi doesn't know anyone from Varanasi and doesn't meet anyone from here. How can he win easily? Ajay Rai will give a tough fight to the Prime Minister.

People need to support Rai to save the Indian democracy," said Ajay K Agrawal, Supreme Court Advocate. Agarwal who unsuccessfully contested against Sonia Gandhi in Raebareli on BJP ticket in 2014 threw his weight behind Ajay Rai in Varanasi. However, he is yet to join Congress.

"Anything can happen in this election as our candidate Ajay Rai is getting more support with every passing day. The main fight is between Congress and Modi here while SP is nowhere in the picture.

Rai will create history on the lines of Raj Narain who defeated then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1977. Grand Alliance will form the government at the Centre. That's for sure," said Shailendra Singh, a Congress leader.