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People lined the barricaded roads, some of them holding saffron flags, balloons and small “trishuls”. Small stages were set up along the route where cultural performances were held. Cutouts of famous people from Kashi were installed in many places.
People from different communities, including Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Maheshwari, Marwari, Tamil and Punjabi, welcomed Modi at 100 points in 11 zones marked out on the route of the roadshow.
Two hours after the roadshow began from the Malviya Chauraha in Varanasi’s Lanka area, the prime minister reached the Kashi Vishwanath temple and offered prayers.
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A number of Union ministers, chief ministers of BJP and NDA-ruled states and leaders of the party are likely to accompany Modi to the collectorate, where he will file his nomination on Tuesday.
Modi is seeking a third consecutive term from the Varanasi seat, where voting will be held on June 1 in the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha election.
The roadshow on Monday began with Modi garlanding a statue of educationist and social reformer Madan Mohan Malviya at the Malviya Chauraha in Varanasi’s Lanka area and passed through the Sant Ravidas Gate, Assi, Shivala, Sonarpura, Jangambadi and Godaulia.
A large number of women in saffron attire walked ahead of the vehicle Modi was in. The group represented ‘matrashakti’.
The prime minister was accompanied by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The BJP’s state president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary joined later.
Modi will spend the night at the BLW guest house.
On Tuesday, the prime minister will file his nomination papers after offering prayers at the Kaal Bhairav temple.
Modi may also offer prayers at the Dashashwamedh Ghat on the banks of the Ganga around 9 am, a BJP statement issued in Lucknow said.
As per his itinerary, the prime minister may also take a cruise trip to the Namo Ghat in the city ahead of filing nomination papers.
Following the nomination process, Modi will hold a meeting with BJP workers at the Rudraksha Convention Centre.The prime minister is also expected to take a dip in the Ganga river on the occasion of Ganga Saptami on Tuesday. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be present for Modi’s nomination filing. The BJP’s NDA partners Lok Dal president Jayant Chaudhary, LJP chief Chirag Paswan, Apna Dal (S) president Anupriya and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party president Omprakash Rajbhar are also expected to attend, the statement said. Besides Adityanath, Chief Ministers Nitish Kumar of Bihar, Pushkar Singh Dhami of Uttarakhand, Mohan Yadav of Madhya Pradesh, Vishnu Deo Sai of Chhattisgarh, Eknath Shinde of Maharashtra, Bhajan Lal Sharma of Rajasthan, Himanta Biswa Sharma of Assam, Nayab Singh Saini of Haryana, Pramod Sawant of Goa, Prem Singh Tamang of Sikkim and Manik Saha of Tripura are also likely to attend the prime minister’s nomination filing.