Battle to watch: Narendra Modi Vs Arvind Kejriwal [Varanasi]

New Delhi: Varanasi is considered to be one of the most sacred cities for those who follow ‘Sanatan' faith. Today, Varanasi has become the cynosure of Indian politics because the ancient city is hosting the most exciting political battle of Indian general elections 2014. Narendra Modi, the man who has emerged as the most cheered political leader in recent history has filed his nomination papers from Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency. Varanasi will go to polls on May 12 in the 9th and last phase of general elections. Modi is being challenged by many other contestants from different political parties and independent candidates but all eyes are set on Arvind Kejriwal, the 49-day Chief Minister of Delhi and national convener of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), who is trying to repeat the upset that he had succeeded in bringing about in Delhi assembly elections. Kejriwal had defeated the then Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in one of the major upsets of assembly elections. The question is – will Kejriwal be able to repeat Delhi in Varanasi?Apart from Kejriwal, Ajay Rai of Congress is also in the fray. Samajwadi Party has fielded Kailash Chaurasia from this seat. Dreaded muscle man Mukhtar Ansari was also planning to contest on behalf of Quami Ekta Dal candidate (QED) but he backed out of the battlefield to prevent the division of Muslim votes. What is interesting is that Afzal Ansari, the brother of Mukhtar Ansari and president of Quami Ekta Dal, has reportedly met BJP leaders and has assured to support Narendra Modi although there is no official word from any side.There are around 1.5 lakh Muslim voters in Varanasi and any tactical voting by the community against Modi may make things difficult for the prime ministerial candidate of BJP. In 2009, Dr Murali manohar Joshi won this seat on BJP ticket. This time again he wanted to contest from the same seat but he was persuaded to vacate the constituency for Modi . Joshi is presently contesting from Kanpur Lok Sabha seat. Varanasi has the distinction of being represented by a politician who went on to become the Prime Minister of India. And the politician was Chandrashekhar who contested and won the seat in 1977 general elections. Arvind Kejriwal is counting on the sizeable Agrawal votes in the constituency while Samajwadi Party is trying to win over Brahmins by telling them that BJP has insulted Brahmins by denying ticket to Dr Murali Manohar Joshi. A recent India TV expose revealed that the Congress candidate Ajay Rai was actually accused by a former Bihar DGP in his official report of purchasing AK-47 rifle from another dreaded politician Syed Shahabuddin. Today the entire city was swamped by Modi supporters when he was doing a roadshow before filing his nomination papers and Varanasi for once looked like a city that was eagerly awaiting the arrival Modi for filing his nomination papers.If the crowd response is to be believed then Modi should romp home easily but the problem is that crowds are sometimes deceiving and the actual result springs a surprise.

Battle to watch: Narendra Modi Vs Arvind Kejriwal [Varanasi]

New Delhi: Varanasi is considered to be one of the most sacred cities for those who follow ‘Sanatan' faith. Today, Varanasi has become the cynosure of Indian politics because the ancient city is hosting the

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