1 / 6Modi’s Lead: As per the Election Commission data, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is leading in the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat. He won with a margin of over 1,52 lakh votes against his opponent, Ajay Rai, the state president of Congress. (PTI Photo)
2 / 6Rai’s Challenge: Ajay Rai, the state president of Congress in Uttar Pradesh, is contesting against Modi in the 2024 elections. This is not the first time Rai has contested against Modi in the Lok Sabha polls. (PTI Photo)
3 / 6Third Win: This election marks PM Modi’s third consecutive win from Varanasi. Earlier, the saffron party had stated that Modi is not just aiming to win, but also to secure a victory with a record margin of over 5 lakh votes. (PTI Photo)
4 / 6Past Victories: In the 2014 elections, Modi won the Varanasi seat with 5,81,022 votes, which was 56.37% of the total votes. His victory margin increased in the 2019 elections, where he received 6,74,664 votes, 63.62% of the total votes. He defeated Shalini Yadav from the Samajwadi Party by 4,79,505 votes. (PTI Photo)
5 / 6Rai’s Journey: Rai started his political journey with the BJP. He was elected to the UP Assembly three times from the Kolasla seat in Varanasi. However, after being denied a Lok Sabha ticket in 2009, he left the BJP. He then contested from Varanasi on a Samajwadi Party ticket, but lost. He joined the Congress in 2012 and won the newly-formed Pindra seat in Varanasi.
6 / 6Campaign Narrative: During his campaign, Rai emphasised the narrative of the ‘outsider’. He claimed that the unique culture of Varanasi could only be preserved by showing the ‘outsider’ the exit door. He questioned why Modi, who wrote letters to 2,000 people of Varanasi asking for votes, did not send a letter of condolence during the coronavirus period when thousands of people died.
