Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday filed his nomination papers from Varanasi for the third consecutive term, accompanied by a local Brahmin Vedic scholar who had decided the time for the consecration of the Ram temple and a host of BJP heavyweights.

The Vedic scholar, Ganeshwar Shastri, was one of the proposers for Modi, the other three being RSS members from the OBC community Baijnath Patel and Lalchand Kushwaha, and BJP worker Sanjay Sonkar, a Scheduled Caste member. Varanasi has 6.5 lakh OBC voters and 3.5 lakh SC voters.

Around 2.5 of Varanasi’s 19 lakh voters are Muslim, but Modi has not had a proposer from the community in any of his three nomination-filing exercises.

Tuesday’s nomination filing by Modi was a show of strength as senior ministers and BJP-NDA leaders such as home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh, minister of state for commerce and industry Anupriya Patel and minister of state for social justice and empowerment Ramdas Athawale accompanied him.

Also present were BJP president J.P. Nadda, the chief ministers of many states, including Yogi Adityanath of Uttar Pradesh and Eknath Shinde of Maharashtra, Telugu Desam Party leader Chandrababu Naidu and Rashtriya Lok Dal president Jayant Chaudhary.

Modi has declared in his affidavit that his wealth amounted to Rs 3.02 crore. It was Rs 2.19 crore in 2019.

Modi later addressed a meeting of his party workers at a convention centre in Varanasi.

“I am honoured by the presence of our valued NDA allies in Kashi today. Our alliance represents a commitment to national progress and fulfilling regional aspirations. We will work together for the progress of India in the years to come,” Modi wrote on X.

But Sandeep Kumar, a Varanasi resident, said: “It is really strange that the Prime Minister organises his own welcome in Varanasi. There were flowers, pom-pom garlands and festoons hanging over the roads through which he passed. The houses on his way were also decorated. People don’t have money these days for necessary items and they must not have decorated the front of their houses for Modi. Ask them where this money came from?”

“In fact, BJP workers were given money and asked to decorate the houses on both sides of the road. It is like Modi spending on his own welcome,” added Sandeep, who led a team that organises people for Modi’s welcome at the Kashi-Vishwanath temple.

When reporters asked Chaudhary whether it was a show of strength, he replied: “It is a sense of solidarity that all the NDA partners are here during Modiji’s nomination.” The Rashtriya Lok Dal leader added without being asked: “There is no anger against the Modi government. Modi is going to win and become PM again.”

Earlier in the day, Modi worshipped the Ganga at the Dashaswamedh Ghat and took a cruise ride. Then he went to offer prayers at the Kal Bhairav temple.

Modi wore a white kurta-pajama throughout Tuesday’s programme but his tippet changed from red at the ghat to striped yellow on the cruise to saffron at the Kal Bhairav temple. When he reached the convention centre, the Prime Minister donned a blue half-jacket.

Modi had undertaken a road show in Varanasi on Monday. Reacting to the two-day jamboree in Varanasi, Ajay Rai, the Congress’s Varanasi nominee, said: “Modiji’s road show on Monday was a flop. He says the Ganga has adopted him but anybody can see the pollution in the Ganga. See what this son of the Ganga is doing to his mother. There are nallahs in the city directly flowing into the river.”

Rai was present at the Dashaswamedh Ghat for about two hours and offered prayers to the Ganga on Tuesday.

“Today is Ganga Saptami, when Mother Ganga descended from the Himalayas to the earth. The people of Varanasi offer prayers today after taking the water of the Ganga in their palms,” Rai said, adding “I am from Banaras and only a Banarasi will work in this election, not a Gujarati.”

Varanasi votes on June 1