Lucknow: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat for the third time in a row, with a margin of 1,52,513 votes, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI). Modi secured 6,12,970 votes while his nearest rival, Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai, got 4,60,457. Ather Jamal Lari of the BSP was third with 33,766 votes.
In 2019, Modi had bagged a total of 6,74,664 votes, a margin of 4.79 lakh over his nearest rival.
The margin between Ajay Rai and Ather Jamal Lari suggests a consolidation of anti-BJP votes in favour of the INDIA alliance candidate Ajay Rai.
There were a total of six candidates in the fray against Modi from the eastern UP constituency, which was his launchpad to the national political scene in 2014.
Apart from Rai and Lari, the Apna Dal (Kamerawadi)’s Gagan Prakash Yadav and the Yuga Thulasi Party’s Kolisetty Shiva Kumar and two Independents were in the fray. The Independents were Dinesh Kumar Yadav and Sanjay Kumar Tiwari.
In 2019, Modi bagged 63.6 percent of the votes, ahead of Shalini Yadav of the Samajwadi Party. Yadav joined the BJP last year.
In 2014, Modi got 56.37 percent of the votes and his winning margin was 3.72 lakh. He had defeated Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal, who was his nearest rival. Ajay Rai came third.
A total of 41 candidates were in the ring with Modi in 2014, including 19 Independents. In 2019, that number came down to 26, including eight Independents. In 2024, while 41 candidates had initially filled up the nomination form from Varanasi, the number was ultimately whittled down to 6, including two Independents.
Since 1991, the BJP has won the seat each time, except in 2004 when the Congress’s Rajesh Mishra defeated the BJP’s Shanker Prasad Jaiswal by 57,436 votes.
Former Rohaniya MLA Surendra Narayan Singh, who was part of the PM’s core team in the constituency, told ThePrint that campaigning for the PM was easy because the public was enthusiastic about helping Modi win.
Singh was made the convenor of the team and coordinated with various party cells for rallies, roadshows and other activities. He said it was as important for the PM to win from Varanasi as it was for him to become the rime minister.
“There are ongoing development projects worth Rs 70,000 cr in Varanasi, which would stop if he was not there. Like the honourable PM lovingly mentions ‘Meri Kashi’ in every speech, the public chanted ‘Mere Modi’ the same way ,” Singh said, adding, “There was a feeling in everyone’s heart that since Modi ji is fighting from here, why shouldn’t they support him.
“We did not have much problem in campaigning as people came forward to help us. Kashi is a ‘mini India’ and people of every caste and community reside here.”
However, the possibility of a reduced winning margin could dent Modi’s image, according to T.P. Singh, professor of political science at Banaras Hindu University.
Singh said, “Last time, the PM won by over 4.79 lakh votes. If he wins by over two lakh votes now, it shows his image has suffered a dent. Although we have to wait for the final figures as counting in assembly constituencies of Varanasi North and Varanasi Cantt is still pending, it is clear the PM’s winning margin will decline this time. Winning with a lower vote margin than BJP stalwarts like Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh will hurt his image.”
This is an updated version of this report
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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