'Elected as PM, but worker for you': PM Modi to BJP workers in Varanasi

Varanasi: After the Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in his Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi on a thanksgiving visit on Monday.

Addressing party workers here, PM Modi said, “I had spoken to workers of Varanasi. All of you had ordered me that I can't set foot in Varanasi for a month. The nation might have elected me as the PM but for you, I am a worker. For me, your order was the priority.”

He said the supporters in Kashi didn't weigh the elections on the scales of win-loss. They considered this a festival of 'Lok shiksha', 'Lok sampark', 'Lok sangrah', 'Lok samarpan'.

“UP is giving new direction to politics... 2014, 2017 and 2019 hat trick is not small. Even after this, if the eyes of political pundit do not open, their ears do not hear the sound, then they are living in 20th century.  Political pundits have to agree that there is chemistry beyond poll arithmetic,” he said.

"Work and workers create wonders," Modi said, giving full credit for his victory to the workers at the grassroots level for creating awareness about his government's policies and programmes for the people. He also spoke of importance of "perfect synergy" between the government and the party.

At the same time he lamented there was a sense of political untouchability, adding BJP workers were being killed for their ideology in West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala.

Earlier, BJP president Amit Shah on Monday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has transformed Kashi in the last five years.

He also thanked voters here for supporting Modi and re-electing him to the Lok Sabha for the second term. Shah, who has won his maiden Lok Sabha election from Gandhinagar, said when Modi visited the party workers on the day he filed his nomination papers, it became clear that he was going to win.

"I thank your all. At the same time you are lucky to have a person like Modi to represent you in Lok Sabha," he said, addressing party workers here.

"Perhaps it is the only election where the candidate has not visited constituency after filing nomination. It reflects the confidence Modi had on his voters," he added.

He accompanied Modi to Varanasi where the Prime Minister offered prayers at the Kashi Vishwanath temple soon after his arrival.

Both Shah and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in their speeches here, focused on the "gruelling" campaigning that Modi undertook in the run up to the general elections.

Modi won the Varanasi parliamentary seat by a margin 4,79,505 votes, defeating his nearest rival Shalini Yadav of the Samajwadi Party.