Ram Mandir Muhurt Decider Hindu Saint, Jan Sangh Worker And Dalit Among PM Modi's Four Proposers In Varanasi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi filed his nomination papers on Tuesday (14 May) with two OBCs, one Dalit and one Brahmin among his four proposers for the Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi parliamentary constituency.

Amar Ujala reported that the four proposers were finalised after a discussion of 15 days over 50 people. Of them, 18 were shortlisted by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national general secretary Sunil Bansal.

The four proposers are Ganeshwar Shastri (a Brahmin), Vaijnath Patel, a loyal worker since Jan Sangh times, and Lalchand Kushwaha (OBCs) and Sanjay Sonkar (Dalit).

Notably, Ganeshwar Shastri is that Hindu saint who finalised the muhurt (auspicious time) for the pran-pratishtha (consecration ceremony) of Ramlalla at the Ayodhya temple.

The four proposers were finalised by PM Modi himself. He was accompanied by top BJP leaders including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for nomination.

Ahead of the nomination filing, PM Modi visited Dasaswamedh Ghat to offer prayers to Maa Ganga, which was followed by a visit to the Kaal Bhairav Temple.

Varanasi will vote in the seventh and final phase of the elections on 1 June, where PM Modi will contest against Congress candidate Ajay Rai for the third time.