Lok Sabha election: PM Narendra Modi will file his nomination from Varanasi constituency today

A day after holding a massive roadshow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will file his nomination on Friday from the Varanasi constituency for the Lok Sabha election. PM Modi is scheduled to visit the Kaal Bhairav Mandir and worship before filing his papers. The PM is on a two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh.

A procession is also scheduled, that would start from Maldahiya where PM Modi will garland the statue of Sardar Ballav Bhai Patel, and culminate at the Collectorate. 

The PM is expected to start the day by meeting the booth level workers at 8 am. At 11 am, the prime minister will visit the temple to worship and around 11.15 am he will leave the temple to file his nomination. The PM is expected to file his papers at 11.30 am.

The Congress has fielded Ajay Rai from the constituency.

Around 12.30 pm, the BJP will hold a press brief at the Taj Hotel.

PM Modi will file his papers in the presence of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) leaders.

These include BJP president Amit Shah, Union Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Shiromani Akali Dal patron and former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, Lok Janshakti Party president Ram Vilas Paswan, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Ravi Kisan, and Nirahua.

"All senior BJP leaders including all members of party's parliamentary board will be present with PM Modi in Varanasi on April 26," BJP president Amit Shah had said at a press conference on Tuesday. 

On Thursday, PM Modi had held a mega roadshow drawing massive crowds, before culminating the show of strength with the "Ganga aarti" at the Dashashwamedh Ghat.

Varanasi will go to polls in the seventh phase on May 19. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, PM Modi, who contested from two seats -- Varanasi and Vadodara in Gujarat -- defeated Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal from here. Congress's Rai had finished third.