VARANASI: With an eye on increasing the winning margin of its second-time MP and the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi LS constituency, the BJP has pressed all its big guns into campaign mode in the temple city.
Top BJP leaders, including national president JP Nadda, union ministers S Jaishankar, Piyush Goyal and Giriraj Singh, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, MP CM Dr Mohan Yadav and actor-turned-politicians Manoj Tiwari and Arun Govil have embarked on voters’ outreach programmes across Varanasi seat spread in three urban and two rural assembly segments.
Morning walkers at the Shahid Udyan in the posh Sigra locality (which forms part of the Varanasi Cantt assembly seat) had a surprise visitor on Monday, as the union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal not only joined them in Yoga sessions (including Laughter Yoga), but also interacted with them over cup of tea at a special Chai Par Charcha program at tea stall in the adjoining Shastri Nagar locality.
In the same Varanasi Cantt assembly segment, the BJP Mahila Morcha national president Vanathi Srinivasan interacted with the third genders voters and apprised them about the pro-third gender initiatives taken by the Modi government.
In the Varanasi South assembly segment, the BJP national president JP Nadda himself was in action, addressing a meeting of the Brahmin caste’s prominent citizens. Importantly, Brahmins voters who number 2-2.5 lakh are considered among the BJP’s most loyal voter base in the temple city.
In the rural assembly segments, MP CM Dr Mohan Yadav spent around 45 minutes at the riverside Garhwa Ghat Ashram in Rohania assembly constituency in the morning, before flying to Bihar for poll campaigning.
Ruling party’s local face Shalini Yadav (who was the first runners up in the 2017 mayor elections as Congress candidate) accompanied the MP CM to the Ashram, which has a strong influence on the Yadav caste people in the entire Varanasi region.
PM Narendra Modi had visited the same Ashram in 2014 and 2017 during the LS and assembly polls. Yadavs (who are largely seen to be SP supporters) constitute around 1.5 to 2 lakh voters out of the 19.60-lakh plus voters. The BJP is working to ensure that it’s Yadav vote in urban segment (who’ve stayed loyal to the saffron party) continue to side with PM Modi.