Massive road shows in UP today, Modi to cover wider area in Varanasi

Varanasi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a road show on Sunday in support of local BJP candidates and later address a rally as he pulls out all the stops ahead of the last phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls on March 8.

The events would follow massive back to back road shows held by Modi and UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi through the holy city on Sunday.

The BJP leaders said Modi's road show on Sunday will cover a different and much wider area during which the party candidates would accompany him.

On Saturday, Modi paid obeisance at the historic Kashi Vishwanath and Kaal Bhairav temples as part of his mega road show.

The campaign led by Modi in the city underlines the stake the BJP has in the Prime Minister's Lok Sabha constituency where it had won three of the five assembly seats in 2012. The Samajwadi Party had won the remaining two.

However, what is significant is that the SP and the Congress, both allies now but rivals five years back, had together polled more votes than the BJP in two of the three seats it had won.

With Modi now representing Varanasi in the Lok Sabha, his party is doing all it can to put up a commanding performance.

A host of Union ministers and top BJP leaders led by Amit Shah have been camping here to lead the party's campaign for the last phase of polls.

The Prime Minister will stay in Varanasi overnight and hold more public events tomorrow.

As many as 40 seats will go to the polls in the last phase of the UP elections on March 8. The results will be out on March 11.