Varanasi, Mar 9: With Lok Sabha elections around the corner, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a massive roadshow in Varanasi on Saturday.

After the roadshow, the Prime Minister also visited the Kashi Vishwanath Temple along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and offered prayers at the holy shrine.

Visuals show the performing rituals at the temple.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi expressed his gratitude to the party and its workers for showing 'constant' faith in him.

PM Modi, in a post on X, said that he is looking forward to 'serving the people of Varanasi' for the third time."I thank the @BJP4India leadership and bow to the crores of selfless Party Karyakartas for their constant faith in me. I look forward to serving my sisters and brothers at Kashi for the third time. In 2014, I went to Kashi with a commitment to fulfil people's dreams and empower the poorest of the poor," the PM said.

He further said that the efforts made by the central government in the last ten years continue with even greater vigour."Over the last ten years, we have made significant progress across various sectors and worked towards a better Kashi. These efforts will continue with even greater vigour. I would also like to convey special gratitude to the people of Kashi for their blessings, which I cherish greatly," the PM added.PM Modi, in another post on X, said that his party is going to the people on the basis of our track record of good governance and ensuring the fruits of progress reach the poorest of the poor."

The BJP released its first list of 195 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls on Saturday, days after a marathon meeting of the party's Central Election Committee (CEC) that was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This is the third time PM Modi will be contesting from the Varanasi seat. In 2014, he defeated AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and in 2019, he won against the Samajwadi Party's Shalini Yadav and Congress leader Ajay Rai.

Even before Modi, Varanasi had been a BJP stronghold, with the party retaining it consistently since 1991 except in 2004 when the Congress's Rajesh Kumar Mishra had won.

Meanwhile, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Election Commissioner Arun Goel on Saturday resigned from the post.

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His resignation has been accepted by the President.

Goel assumed charge as Election Commissioner (EC) of India on November 21, 2022.

The Lok Sabha polls are slated to be held in April-May this year. (ANI)

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