VARANASI: Shedding the electoral disappointment the BJP faced in Uttar Pradesh this time, where it won just 33 seats — a sharp decline from 62 seats in 2019 — Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be back in Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency, on Tuesday for the first time since poll results with a focus on reaching out to farmers.
While Tuesday late evening is dotted with events like PM witnessing Ganga Aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat and performing pooja and darshan at Kashi Vishwanath Temple, the real highlight will be his participation in the PM Kisan Samman Sammelan.
After being sworn in as Prime Minister for the third time, PM Modi signed his first file authorizing the release of the 17th installment of PM Kisan Nidhi — a sum that gets directly transferred to the bank accounts of farmers, signaling the priority of Modi 3.0.
He will release the 17th installment, which amounts to more than ₹20,000 crores, to around 9.26 crore farmers on Tuesday under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) through Direct Benefit Transfer. So far, more than 11 crore eligible farmer families have received its benefits.
What’s interesting is the venue he has chosen—his Lok Sabha constituency. Modi may have won Varanasi with a handsome margin, but the BJP did not fare well in this part of Uttar Pradesh.
The Varanasi region has 12 Lok Sabha seats: Varanasi, Machhlishahr, Jaunpur, Bhadohi, Mirzapur, Chandauli, Robertsganj, Ghazipur, Ghosi, Azamgarh, Lalganj, and Ballia. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP, with ally Apna Dal-Soneylal, won seven of these seats while losing Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Ghosi, Lalganj, and Azamgarh. Later, it won Azamgarh in a by-poll. But this time, the BJP won just three, including one by Apna Dal-Soneylal. It has lost Jaunpur, Machhlishahr, Chandauli, Robertsganj, Ghazipur, Ghosi, Lalganj, Azamgarh, and Ballia—all of which fall under the Varanasi belt.
It is believed the Prime Minister is sending a message by being personally present for this event, which could very well be done through video conferencing from Delhi.
