Ground Zero in Varanasi: Unmatched campaign efforts for PM Narendra Modi’s record win.

The BJP’s extensive campaign efforts in Varanasi and the broader Poorvanchal region showcase their determination to secure a decisive victory. If Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi is the epicenter of the seventh phase of 2024 general elections, the longest-living city is also the microcosm of BJP’s well-oiled, highly efficient and formidable election fighting machine. While only a brain-dead would give the Opposition INDI alliance candidate Ajay Rai any fighting chance in Varanasi, it is the sheer effort that the BJP leadership is putting in Poorvanchal with Kashi in particular that makes it quite evident that the party will come top in Uttar Pradesh and in the 2024 elections. I was in Varanasi for three days this week and found that public affection for PM Modi has not only increased from my earlier visits in 2014 and 2019 but the BJP leader has become an icon in the ancient city. From the boatmen like Satyaprakash, plying tourists on Ganges to the owner of Pahalwan Lassi wala near Sankat Mochan temple to paanwala, rickshawwala in Gaudhulia to taxiwala in Lanka, PM Modi is something who can do nothing wrong for either Varanasi or for the country. That does not mean that there are no takers for INDI alliance but the numbers are quiet miniscule in comparison to the Modi-supporting masses. For someone who has been visiting the city for the past two decades, Varanasi has literally transformed in front of my eyes with Kashi Vishwanath corridor, NaMo ghat, Babatpur-Kashi airport road and ring road. No longer one sees hanging electric cables, paan spit and trash all over the place despite the congestion still defining the old city. The railway stations are spic and span and the airport a distant reminder of a makeshift run-down airport before 2010. Despite PM Modi being expected to be a runaway winner in the Varanasi constituency after June 1 polls, it is the breathtaking effort made by the BJP leaders which has left no grounds for complacency in the entire Poorvanchal with Kashi at the centre.