Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday filed his nomination papers in Varanasi for the Lok Sabha elections amid a show of strength by NDA allies. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was accompanied by Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah.

Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar, Union minister and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan, Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray and Shiromani Akali Dal patron Parkash Singh Badal were also present with Narendra Modi at the Collectorate as he filed his nomination papers, seeking a second term in the Lok Sabha from the temple town.

Speaking to the media after filing his nomination, Prime Minister Modi said: “I deeply express gratitude towards people of Kashi. They have again blessed me after 5 years. Such a grand roadshow yesterday was possible only in Kashi.”

Before filing his nomination papers, PM Narendra Modi offered prayers at the Kaal Bhairav temple in Varanasi.

On Thursday, Prime Minister had held a mega seven-kilometre roadshow through the town. In a grand celebration, Modi, joined by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and BJP President Amit Shah, participated in the "Ganga aarti" at the Dashashwamedh ghat on Thursday night.

The high profile constituency will see a triangular contest between Modi, Congress candidate Ajay Rai and Samajwadi Party's Shalini Yadav on May 19. In 2014, Modi won the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, defeating Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal by a massive margin of 3.37 lakh vote. Modi polled 5,16,593 votes -- about half the total votes -- while Congress' Ajay Rai finished third.

While there was speculation that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra may contest the Lok Sabha polls from Varanasi, the Congress announced Rai as the candidate again from the constituency that goes to polls on May 19.

With IANS inputs