Lok Sabha Results: All Eyes On Hot-Seat Varanasi As PM Modi Seeks Third Term
Lok Sabha Elections Results 2024: Prime Minister Narendra Modi first won the Varanasi seat in 2014 and retained it in 2019 as well.
Lok Sabha Results: The Varanasi constituency has taken a centre stage with domestic and global watch as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is contesting the Lok Sabha elections for a third time for here. Pitted against him is Ajay Rai from the Congress party besides five other candidates including two Independents. Varanasi laid the path for Narendra Modi to enter Lok Sabha for the first time in 2014 which he retained in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as well.
In 2014, Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal suffered defeat at the hands of Modi from the Varanasi seat as the latter garnered 3.72 lakh votes and a 56.37% vote share.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Modi secured a second term from the same seat and returned to power with a bigger mandate securing over 4.5 lakh votes or 63.6% of the vote share. This time, against him was Samajwadi Party's Shalini Yadav.
For the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, a total of 41 candidates had filed their nomination from the Varanasi constituency including comedian Shyam Rangeela. However, only seven candidates got past through the scrutiny.
Candidates in the fray from Varanasi include Narendra Modi (BJP), Ajay Rai (Congress), Ather Jamal Lari (Bahujan Samaj Party), Gagan Prakash Yadav (Apna Dal -Kamerawadi), Dinesh Kumar Yadav (Independent), and Sanjay Kumar Tiwari (Independent).
Varanasi, revered as the holy Hindu town in Uttar Pradesh has been a Bharatiya Janata Party stronghold since 1991 winning all but one election in 2004 when Congress's Rajesh Kumar Mishra clinched the seat.
Modi's I.N.D.I.A bloc contender, Ajay Rai has also been a consistent contender from Varanasi though, unsuccessful. This year, he is contesting from the seat for the fourth time after being experiencing defeat from this seat in 2009, 2014, and 2019.
In 2009, Rai was pitted against BJP's Murli Manohar Joshi.
The previous results are likely to repeat this year as well giving Modi an edge over his competitors, as per India Today-Axis My India exit polls.
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