Modi wins from Varanasi, but margin falls behind 2019: Is the Modi factor fading?
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won from the Varanasi constituency with a margin of 1,52,513 votes; however, the margin fell behind his 2019 election victory when he had secured a margin of nearly 4.79 lakh votes, showing the fading trend of his charisma or the winning Modi factor.
In the initial stage of the counting, the Congress' Ajay Rai posed a challenge to Modi, who was trailing by 6,223 votes. As the day progressed, Modi regained his lead, ultimately securing over 6.12 lakh votes.
Varanasi has been a bastion of the BJP, winning continuously since 1991, with a break in this streak in 2004 when RK Mishra of the Congress won.
Despite the Prime Minister’s decisive victory, the overall performance of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh during this election has been less impressive. Since 2014, the BJP has maintained a dominant position in Uttar Pradesh’s electoral politics, achieving a sweeping victory with 61 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats.
The 2017 state elections saw a remarkable performance under the leadership of Yogi Adityanath, with the BJP winning 312 of the state's 403 Assembly seats, a significant jump from the 47 seats won in 2012.
Adityanath secured a second term in 2022, despite facing heavy criticism during the farmers' protests, and the party garnered 62 seats in the 2019 general election.
The 2024 Lok Sabha election in UP was anticipated to follow the same trend, with exit polls predicting a substantial victory for the BJP. A poll of exit polls projected that the party would win 68 seats, while the Congress-led INDIA bloc was expected to secure only 12 seats.
However, the BJP's overall performance in the state fell short of these expectations, signalling potential challenges ahead for the party in maintaining its stronghold in Uttar Pradesh.