Top BJP leaders, Rajnath Singh, MM Joshi, Sushma Swaraj to campaign for Narendra Modi in Varanasi

VARANASI: Sushma Swaraj, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Murli Manohar Joshi may have had their headline-making differences with Narendra Modi. But Varanasi has brought them all together. Swaraj, Chouhan and Joshi, along with BJP heavyweights Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley, will campaign in Varanasi – for Modi.

"It is a prestige issue for the party that Modi not only wins in Varanasi but manages it with a huge margin. Senior leaders of the party will campaign for Modi in the constituency to send across a message to the electorate," a senior party leader told ET.

Jaitley confirmed to ET that he will be campaigning in Varanasi. With polling over in Amritsar, the senior leader left for the national capital on Thursday and will leave for the city soon. He will also campaign in other UP and Bihar constituencies.

BJP UP unit president, Laxmikant Bajpai, told ET Swaraj and Chouhan will both campaign in Varanasi. BJP national leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad and Nirmala Sitharaman also confirmed that the entire BJP brass will be in Varanasi for Modi. Prasad and Sitharaman will also be joining the Varanasi campaign team.

Modi himself is likely to address three or more rallies in Varanasi. Senior BJP leaders said Modi is likely to spend two days in the constituency, which goes to polls on May 12. "We had sent a request to Modi’s office that he should hold rallies in the remaining 33 seats of UP that go to polls in the last two phases.

He has confirmed that he will hold 13 rallies in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Of these three are likely to be held in Varanasi," Bajpai said. He said final details regarding venue and date will be finalised soon. Joshi, who represented Varanasi in the Fifteenth Lok Sabha and moved to Kanpur only after dramatic intra-party debates were resolved in Modi’s favour, will also spend around two days in Varanasi.