BJP supporters attend the election campaign meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi (Express Photo – Vishal Srivastava)
Besides state Tourism Minister Neelkanth Tiwari (Varanasi South), other ministers in the fray in the last leg are Anil Rajbhar (Shivpur-Varanasi), Ravindra Jaiswal (Varanasi North), Girish Yadav (Jaunpur) and Ramashankar Singh Patel (Marihan-Mirzapur) .
Dara Singh Chouhan, who had resigned from the Yogi Adityanath cabinet and joined the SP, is contesting from Ghosi in Mau. SBSP president Om Prakash Rajbhar (Jahoorabad), Dhananjay Singh (Malhani-Jaunpur) JD(U) candidate and Abbas Ansari. Mafia-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s son is contesting from Mau Sadar seat in this phase. Campaigning in the final phase reached its zenith with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading the BJP’s election attack in Varanasi and its surrounding districts. Apart from addressing election rallies, he also conducted a roadshow for the three assembly constituencies of Cantonment, Varanasi North and Varanasi South.
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In this phase West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee along with Akhilesh Yadav and her RLD colleague Jayant Choudhary descended on the pilgrimage town to hold a joint rally. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was camping in Varanasi for nearly four days and addressed election meetings with her brother Rahul Gandhi, while BSP supremo Mayawati also campaigned in the district and neighboring areas.