Varanasi Parliamentary Constituency Map and Election Results

General Election Candidate List 2019
Party	Constituency	Candidate Name
INC	Varanasi	Ajay Rai
BJP	Varanasi	Narendra Modi
SP	Varanasi	Shalini Yadav

Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha Election 2019 Dates

Varanasi General Election 2014 Results Summary

Narendra Modi's epic victory at the LS 2014 polls was three-fold - Vadodara, Varanasi and Delhi. At all three centres, the BJP led by NaMo managed to whip up a resounding victory, the likes of which have not been seen for decades now. NaMo personally recorded a magnificent triumph at the Varanasi constituency for his party. He celebrated by performing the Ganga Aarti at the holy city.

The Kashi Factor

When BJP officially announced that Narendra Modi would be contesting from Varanasi constituency in Uttar Pradesh, the city's popular chant "Har Har Mahadev" was turned to "Har Har Modi" - BJP's key slogan that would eventually sweep the nation was coined. For perhaps the first time in India, the focus of the elections was off Amethi and Raebareli and Varanasi took the centre stage instead. Also with the maximum number of constituencies, Uttar Pradesh is the state that has traditionally dictated the fate of parties at the centre. It clearly made sense for NaMo to take the battle to the heart of UP - Varanasi. And what made Varanasi a stellar choice for NaMo was the fact that it was already held by BJP's Murali Manohar Joshi.

Rallies, Roadshows and Other Election Propaganda

In the run-up to the elections, Varanasi turned out to be a battle ground like no other. All three major parties - the BJP, the AAP and the INC - held rallies and roadshows that attracted millions of supporters. Apart from a bringing regular life in the city to a virtual standstill, these did add quite a bit of color to the unfolding political drama, with the BJP accusing the Election Commission of having lost its political neutrality for denying the party its select venue for a roadshow but providing INC its request. There were denials and counter-accusations but now all is history in the face of BJP's power show.

Significant Win

Narendra Modi's win from Varanasi has been a significant one for the Bharatiya Janata Party. The party's PM candidate managed to secure about 581022 votes, a lead of well over 3.7 lakh votes. Arvind Kejriwal, the Aam Aadmi Party skipper and the other candidate that everyone was watching out for from the constituency managed to bad about 209238 votes. Ajay Rai, the local candidate was fielded by the INC as almost an afterthought. He fought without much conviction and failed to gather much momentum despite the aid provided in campaigning by Rahul Gandhi and other Congress seniors.

In UP as a whole the Bahujan Samaj Party failed to make an impression. Varanasi was no exception. Vijay Prakash Jaiswal with 60579 votes put up a dismal show and was followed closely by Kailash Chaurasia of the Samajwadi Party with a mere 45291 votes. A look at the numbers tells us that the mandate is a clear. Overwhelmingly clear.

What Must the Varanasi MP Look Into?

The major challenges faced by the MP of Varanasi include cleaning up of the Ganges, checking the tremendous pollution levels in the city, streamlining tourism, and developing industry. While Amul's decision to set up an INR 200 crore plant in Varanasi might have no political overtures, the move has definitely been seen as a follow-up to NaMo's emphasis on the city. Providing employment opportunities to the youth of the constituency, a traditional center for higher education, is another major challenge.

Will NaMo give up on Varanasi?

Narendra Modi had filed his nomination in and eventually contested from two constituencies - Varanasi in UP and Vadodara in Gujarat. According to Section 33 of the Act a candidate is allowed to contest from more than one seat. A further stipulation on the number of seats is laid down by Section 70 of the Act which prevents candidates from holding on to more than one seat. While filing his nomination, NaMo had tweeted "Grateful to the party for giving me opportunity to contest the election from the holy city of Benares!" Varanasi was an important constituency for the BJP - apart from being the heartland of Hinduism, NaMo's candidature had posed a direct challenge to AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal. NaMo's victory at both the constituencies now raises the question of a by-election in the constituency that he decides to give up. Varanasi is politically significant but NaMo is hardly likely to give up on Vadodara where he created history by taking a lead of about 570128 lakh votes - the highest margin ever. "I thank my brothers and sisters of Vadodara for believing in me...I bow before Vadodara's public", he said in his victory speech from Vadodara when it became clear that BJP had swept right from 'Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Kutch to Kamarup'. It now remains to be seen if NaMo will give up the Varanasi seat and if he does what the by-elections bring for the constituency.

While the question of retaining Varanasi or Vadodara is still raging, constituents from the holy city may take heart in the knowledge that Kashi has always been a very important centre for the Prime Minister-to-be. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal has also stressed that while he accepts the verdict of the people, he shall also work to aid development in the region. This is now AAP's chance to consolidate and gain the hearts of the constituents by showing some good work.

Unnao General Election Result 2014

Candidate	Party	Votes
Narendra Modi	Bharatiya Janata Party	581022
Arvind Kejriwal	Aam Aadmi Party	209238
Ajay Rai	Indian National Congress	75614
Vijay Prakash Jaisawal	Bahujan Samaj Party	60579
Kailash Chaurasiya	Samajwadi Party	45291
Rajesh Bharti Surya	Rashtriya Ambedkar Dal	4327
Arun	Bhartiya Shakti Chetna Party	3634
Sarvesh Kumar Gupta	Independent	3023
Baseer Kinnar	Independent	2850
Indira Tiwari	All India Trinamool Congress	2674
Hiralal Yadav	Communist Party of India (Marxist)	2457
Iftekhar Kuraishi	Independent	2323
Narendra Nath Dubey Adig	Jan Shakti Ekta Party	2277
A.K. Aggarwal	Agar Jan Party	2037
Shivhari Agarwal	Bharat Nirman Party	2000
Pramod Kumar	Independent	1807
Devi Prasad Nand	Moulik Adhikar Party	1740
Abhimanyu Singh Patel	Bahujan Mukti Party	1644
Johnson Thomas	Independent	1524
Santosh Kumar	Rashtriya Vikas Manch Party	1434
Ram Lakhan Gupta	Jantantra Party	1376
Rajendra Prasad (Garib Das)	Independent	1367
Prakash Prasad	Independent	1361
Narendra Bahadur Singh	Independent	1306
Hemant Kumar Yadav	Indian National League	1202
Bachchan Prasad Yadav	Independent	1192
Bachchelal	Lokpriya Samaj Party	1172
Ghanshyam	Independent	1151
Om Guru Charan Das Alias Vimal Kumar Singh	Sanatan Sanskriti Raksha Dal	1144
Prabhat Kumar	Independent	1089
Manoj Kumar Chaubey	Independent	1074
Ravindra Kumar	Independent	1012
Lallan	Manavadhikar Janshakti Party	997
Ahmed Sohel Siddiqui	Independent	937
Usman	Rashtriya Apna Dal	878
Hari Lal	Rastriya Insaaf Party	838
Rajiv Kumar Mishra	Independent	677
Satyaprakash Srivastava	Independent	599
Mahendra Mishra	Independent	573
Satish Shankar Jayaswal	Independent	459
Rampyare Singh	Independent	423
Shiv Kumar Shah	Independent	312
None of the Above	None of the Above	2051