Opposition parties have highlighted the poor turnout at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with booth-level BJP workers in Varanasi on Sunday, claiming his popularity is fading in his parliamentary constituency.

They have also alleged that a large number of those present at the “Booth Vijay Sammelan” were not actually BJP workers.

While arrangements were made for an audience of 20,000, the police said only 8,000-9,000 turned up.

“Modi’s popularity has faded in Varanasi. Many chairs were empty at the meeting,” said Gulerana Tabassum, Congress candidate from Varanasi North, where the convention was organised on the grounds of the Sampurnanand Sanskrit University.

“This is why Modi did theatrics and tried to arouse emotion by claiming that his opponents wished him dead.”

The Congress was runner-up from the constituency in 2017. Ravindra Jaiswal, the sitting BJP MLA, is seeking re-election.

“We are going to win this time if the government doesn’t indulge in hanky-panky,” Tabassum said.

Ashfaq Ahmad Dablu, Samajwadi Party candidate from Varanasi North, said: “People are unhappy with Modi and the BJP. Residents were forced to vacate their homes for the expansion of the areas around the Kashi Vishwanath temple.”

An auto-rickshaw driver told The Telegraph that he had attended Modi’s convention. He showed the pass the BJP had issued to him. It declared him a booth-level worker of the party from the Varanasi Cantonment Assembly segment.

“I am not a BJP worker. I got Rs 600 from a party leader for transporting five people to the meeting of the Prime Minister and sitting there in the guise of a booth worker,” Naresh Gupta, a resident of Khojawan, said.

He said he did not know whether the other people at the meeting were genuine BJP workers.

Asked about the allegation that many of those issued passes were not BJP workers, Jaiswal, the sitting BJP MLA, told reporters that a few passes were issued to those who had ferried the workers to the venue.

“There were security reasons behind issuing passes to those who transported the booth-level workers. But most of those present were BJP workers; they had arrived on their own,” he said.

Ramesh Chandra Rai, a veteran journalist in Varanasi, said Sunday's meeting had been conceived at the eleventh hour and reflected the BJP’s jitters.

“BJP leaders had informed us that Modi would be here on March 4 and 5. This (Sunday's) meeting had not been planned before. It was decided only two days ago that Modi would address a meeting of booth-level workers. The BJP feared that people would not turn up," Rai said.

“He (Modi) also made an impromptu visit to the Kashi Vishwanath temple. It's clear that the BJP is not confident of winning all the eight Assembly seats in Varanasi, as it did in 2017.”

Rai added: “Maybe some BJP candidates will win from here but Modi is losing his appeal in his parliamentary constituency. I believe the BJP may lose the state if the election is fair.”

He said that in each constituency, some 3,000 to 5,000 disabled people and those above 80 years were voting on ballots, carried to their homes by election officers who are members of the district administration. "There is every possibility of manipulation," he said.

District electoral officer Kaushal Raj Sharma said: "According to the rules, the agents of the parties are present during voting on ballot paper. There is no chance of any manipulation; the Election Commission is keeping a close watch on everything."

Varanasi votes on March 7.