Nation / Mon, 27 May 2024 The Indian Express

And then there were 6: Down from 41, meet those in the Varanasi race against PM Modi

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi contests his third election from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, there are six candidates left in the race against him, including Congress state president Ajay Rai. AdvertisementThis time, 41 candidates initially filed their nomination papers for the Varanasi constituency, of whom one withdrew on his own. While he also contested and lost by big margins in the 2009, 2014 and 2019 elections from Varanasi, he remains the most formidable challenger to Modi in the race. Dinesh Kumar Yadav (39), IndependentMovable assets: Rs 16.40 lakh; Spouse assets: 0Immovable assets: Rs 10 lakh; Spouse assets: 0Number of cases: 0AdvertisementDinesh Kumar is a three-time corporator from Sikraul, Varanasi, who has been active in politics for the past 15 years. Sanjay Kumar Tiwari (49), IndependentMovable assets: Rs 11.46 lakh; Spouse assets: 0Immovable assets: Rs 29 lakh; Spouse assets: 0Number of cases: 0A New Delhi-based social worker, Tiwari claimed he had been part of movements for the welfare of workers and labourers.

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi contests his third election from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, there are six candidates left in the race against him, including Congress state president Ajay Rai.

In 2014, when Modi contested the first time from Varanasi and went on to become the PM, he won by 3.72 lakh votes, or 56.37% of the vote share, against second-placed Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). In 2019, when Modi won from the seat again and his government returned to power at the Centre, the PM’s victory margin increased to 4.59 lakh votes – 63.6% of the vote share – against his nearest rival Shalini Yadav of the Samajwadi Party.

While in 2014, 41 candidates were in the fray against Modi – 19 of them Independents – in 2019, 26 candidates contested against the PM, eight of them Independents.

This time, 41 candidates initially filed their nomination papers for the Varanasi constituency, of whom one withdrew on his own. Seven candidates finally managed to get past the scrutiny process.

Polling for Varanasi will be held in the last phase on June 1, three days before the results are announced.

Since 1991, the BJP has won the seat seven times, losing it only once, in 2004, to the Congress’s Rajesh Kumar Mishra. In 2009, before Modi picked the constituency to make his Lok Sabha debut, it was won by BJP stalwart Murli Manohar Joshi.

A majority of the voters in the constituency are upper-caste Hindus, including Brahmins, Bhumihars and Jaiswals, followed by Muslims and OBCs.

A look at the six who remain in the race:

Ajay Rai (53), Congress (part of INDIA bloc)

Movable assets: Rs 6.66 lakh; Spouse: Rs 45.37 lakh

Immovable assets: Rs 1.25 crore; Spouse: Rs 80 lakh

Number of cases: 18

An old leader from the area, with a strongman image and several cases against him in the state, Rai is contesting as the INDIA bloc candidate, on the Congress’s symbol. While he also contested and lost by big margins in the 2009, 2014 and 2019 elections from Varanasi, he remains the most formidable challenger to Modi in the race.

Rai had contested in 2014 and 2019 on the Congress ticket, and in 2009 on the SP’s. Each time, he finished third.

The 53-year-old is also a five-time MLA, four times from Kolasla seat and once from Pindra. He won from Kolasla thrice on the BJP symbol, and once as an Independent. He was the Congress MLA from the Pindra Assembly seat in Varanasi from 2012 to 2017.

In August last year, the Congress appointed Rai as the Uttar Pradesh president, replacing former Rajya Sabha member Brijlal Khabri.

Ather Jamal Lari (70), Bahujan Samaj Party

Movable assets: Rs 6.52 lakh; Spouse: Rs 3.31 lakh

Immovable assets: Rs 1.8 crore; Spouse: zero

Number of cases: 1

A resident of Varanasi and the owner of a loom, Lari has been associated with socialist politics since the 1960s and is a veteran of several elections in Varanasi, without ever winning.

A student leader who won union elections in 1971 at DAV Inter College in Gorakhpur, he was among the political leaders forced to go “underground” during the Emergency, Lari told The Indian Express. In 1977, he joined the Janata Party at its inception and went on to hold posts in the party.

In 1984, Lari made his electoral debut from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, on the Janata Party ticket, and lost. Then, in 1991, he contested from the Varanasi Cantt state Assembly seat for the Janata Dal and stood second, losing by 5,000 votes to the BJP’s Jyotsana Srivastava. After the Janata Dal disintegrated, Lari joined the Apna Dal led by Sone Lal Patel in 1995 and was made the state in-charge.

In 2004, Lari contested the Lok Sabha polls from Varanasi for the Apna Dal. He got 14.73% of the votes and stood third, with the Congress’s Rajesh Kumar Mishra winning with 32.68% of the votes. In 2012, Lari contested the Varanasi (South) Assembly constituency for the Quami Ekta Dal led by gangster-turned politician Mukhtar Ansari and again came third.

In the 2022 Assembly polls, Lari supported the SP, but went on to join the BSP after the elections.

Kolisetty Shiva Kumar (46), Yuga Thulasi Party

Movable assets: Rs 36.19 lakh; Spouse: Rs 45.90 lakh

Immovable assets: Rs 2.02 crore; Spouse: Rs 1.97 crore

Number of cases: 0

A resident of Hyderabad, Shiva Kumar is a former Board member of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (a Trust that manages temples, including the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh). Speaking to The Indian Express, he said he has worked on cow protection throughout his life and owns three gaushalas in Hyderabad, sheltering 1,500 cows.

As per Kumar, the main issue for him in the Varanasi election campaign is “the demand that the Central government declare cow as the national animal of India”. “The BJP talks about Sanatan Dharma, but they are not implementing anything,” he told The Indian Express.

Kumar alleged he was “put under a lot of pressure by the BJP to withdraw his papers”, including by its top leaders, and that election officials “also tried really hard to reject my nomination”. He added that “a false case” was then registered against him, leaving him unable to campaign for fear of being arrested.

A police officer at Bhelupur Police Station in Varanasi said Kumar had been booked in a case under IPC Sections for fraud, cheating and criminal intimidation after a complaint was submitted by one Manju Devi that Kumar made her the proposer in his nomination papers without her knowledge, under the garb of signing her up for cow protection work. “Investigation is underway,” said the officer.

Incidentally, back in Hyderabad, Shiva Kumar and the Yuga Thulasi Party have been in the news for complaints by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) that its symbol bears too close a resemblance to that of the BRS.

Gagan Prakash Yadav (39), Apna Dal (Kameravadi) candidate

Movable assets: Rs 19.16 lakh; Spouse: Rs 14.25 lakh

Immovable assets: Rs 66 lakh; Spouse: Rs 10 lakh

Number of cases: 5

Yadav is a candidate of the Apna Dal (K) headed by MLA Pallavi Patel, who recently parted ways with the SP claiming lack of representation to Dalits, Backward and minority communities. The other faction of the Apna Dal, headed by Pallavi’s sister Anupriya, is a member of the BJP-led NDA.

Yadav’s campaign has been at a halt since he lost his brother in a road accident a few days ago. Apna Dal (K) district chief for Varanasi Dileep Singh Patel said, “We haven’t been able to reach him either.”

A native of Bhatti village, 4 km from Varanasi city, Yadav is contesting his first election at this level.

Patel said Yadav has been with the Apna Dal for several years, and has always represented the interests of students and farmers. “He has been a leader since his student days, while his wife is a zila panchayat member in Varanasi,” Patel said.

Dinesh Kumar Yadav (39), Independent

Movable assets: Rs 16.40 lakh; Spouse assets: 0

Immovable assets: Rs 10 lakh; Spouse assets: 0

Number of cases: 0

Dinesh Kumar is a three-time corporator from Sikraul, Varanasi, who has been active in politics for the past 15 years. Dinesh Kumar told The Indian Express that he was with the BJP till he filed the nomination from Varanasi, and decided to contest “under democratic principles of the country”. “I am fighting because there is democracy in the country,” said Yadav.

BJP regional media in-charge (Kashi zone) Navratan Rathi denied Dinesh Kumar was ever with the party. “I have not heard this name,” said Rathi.

Sanjay Kumar Tiwari (49), Independent

Movable assets: Rs 11.46 lakh; Spouse assets: 0

Immovable assets: Rs 29 lakh; Spouse assets: 0

Number of cases: 0

A New Delhi-based social worker, Tiwari claimed he had been part of movements for the welfare of workers and labourers. “I have not been directly associated with any party, but I worked with them as an intellectual,” he added.

On his decision to contest elections, Tiwari said, “I follow Gandhian philosophy… I decided to contest from Varanasi because I am a critic of PM Modi.”