Varanasi, one of the oldest inhabited cities globally, is a crucial Lok Sabha constituency. Post India’s independence, the constituency was a stronghold of Congress, and now is turning into a BJP bastion.
Varanasi, also known as Banaras and Kashi, holds immense religious and cultural significance in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It is one of the oldest inhabited cities globally and a crucial Lok Sabha constituency. Currently represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the BJP, Varanasi has been a stronghold for the party. The Lok Sabha constituency comprises five assembly constituencies – Rohaniya, Varanasi North, Varanasi South, Varanasi Cantt, and Sevapuri. Varanasi has a population of approximately 37 lakh according to the 2011 census. According to mythological tales, Varanasi was established around 5,000 years ago, and it finds mentions in various Hindu scriptures like the Skanda Purana, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and the Rigveda. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections,
As a parliamentary constituency, Varanasi has both contemporary political importance and deep historical roots. Let’s deep dive to know its electoral history today:
Historical Significance: Varanasi is one of the constituencies in 80-seat Uttar Pradesh. As per the estimates of 2011 census, out of total 22,51,773 population 34.54% is rural and 65.46% is urban population. The Scheduled castes (SC) and Scheduled tribes (ST) ratio is 10.13 and 0.74, respectively out of total population. As per the voter list of 2017, there are 1775890 electorates and 1718 polling stations in this constituency. Voter turnout in the 2014 Parliamentary election was 58.35% where as it was 42.61% in 2009 Parliamentary Election. The BJP, the BSP, the INC and the SP got 56.37%, 5.88%, 7.34% and 4.39% votes respectively in 2014-parliamentary election while 30.52%, 27.94%, 9.98% and 18.61% in 2009-parliamentary election respectively. Narendra Modi (BJP) is the present Lok Sabha MP of Varanasi Parliamentary Constituency – Lok Sabha. Congress won the seat for seven times and while BJP emerged out victorious for six time while Janata Party claimed the seat only once.
Raghunath Singh: He was an Indian politician Indian National Congress leader and was the first Member of Parliament from Varanasi. He belonged to a village Khewali, Lok Sabha from Varanasi, being elected in 1952, 1957 and 1962. He was the Chairman of Hindustan Zinc Limited in 1968. He was the Chairman of Shipping Corporation of India in 1977. He was born in Khewali, Varanasi and died on 26 April 1992 in Varanasi, India.
Satyanarayan Singh: He was an Indian politician and served as the Member of Parliament for Varanasi, in Uttar Pradesh, from 1967 to 1971, and was a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) political party. He was born in Khajurahvan, Jaunpur district in UP. His father was Aditya Narayan Singh. He received his early education in Deoband (UP) but soon quit his education to become a full-time politician.
Raja Ram Shastri: Shastri was an Indian educationist who was elected in the 1971 Indian general election as a Member of Parliament (MP) from Varanasi during the 5th Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India. He was a professor and subsequently Vice-Chancellor of the Kashi Vidyapeeth from 1964 – 1971. He was the grandson of Rai Bahadur Thakur Jaiswal. He served as a member of first National Commission on Labour and received Padma Vibhushan in 1991, the second highest civilian honor of India. He died in New Delhi on 21 August 1991, aged 87
Chandra Shekhar: He contested from Janata Party and won the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency in 1977 elections. He was the only MP from Janata Party.
Kamalapati Tripathi: He was an Indian politician, writer, journalist, and freedom fighter. He was a senior Indian National Congress leader from Varanasi constituency. He served as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (1969–1970) as well as Union Minister for Railways. He was the only executive president of Indian National Congress, serving from 1983 to 1986.
Shyam Lal Yadav: He was born on 1 May 1927 and was an Indian politician. He was the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and was Member of Parliament in the 8th Lok Sabha. Yadav represented the Varanasi constituency of Uttar Pradesh and was a member of the Indian National Congress (INC) political party
Anil Kumar Shastri: He is an Indian politician and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress. He is known for his outspoken views. Presently, he is Chairman of the Hindi Department in All India Congress Committee. He was elected to the ninth Lok Sabha from Varanasi in 1989 as member of Janata Dal and was a Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India. Anil Shastri was born in Lucknow to Lal Bahadur Shastri, a former Prime Minister of India and Lalita Shastri. He also served as the union minister in the ministry of finance. He is an alumnus of St. Columba’s School, Delhi and St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. He completed his Advanced Management Programme at Ashridge Business School, now part of Hult International Business School.
Shrish Chandra Dikshit: He was an Indian Politician and Member of Parliament in the 10th Lok Sabha. Dikshit represented the Varanasi constituency of Uttar Pradesh and was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party political party. He died in April 2014. In 1984, Dikshit became a member of VHP. Due to his association with VHP and involvement with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, in 1990 he was arrested and detained.
Shankar Prasad Jaiswal: He was an Indian politician and was Member of Parliament for three consecutive terms in the 11th, 12th & 13th Lok Sabhas. Jaiswal represented the Varanasi constituency of Uttar Pradesh and was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party political party. Although he was elected for three straight terms, he remained in office for a total of eight years only (from 1996 to 2004). Prior to becoming MP, he was also a member of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly (1969–1974) and held charge of whip in Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly (1969–1970). During his political career, Jaiswal also held several party positions in the Bharatiya Janata Party. Jaiswal was born in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh in 1932. His highest attained educational qualification is Matriculation degree. Before entering politics, he was a social worker. He died in 2016.
Rajesh Kumar Mishra: He is a politician from Varanasi, India. He served as a member of the 14th Lok Sabha from Varanasi as a member of INC. He was also a candidate for 2022 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election in the seat of Varansi Cantonment. He joined BJP in 2024. He was born on 7 July 1950, in Deoria, Uttar Pradesh, and married Madhu Mishra in 1983.
Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi: He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of which he was the President between 1991 and 1993. Joshi is the former Member of Parliament from Kanpur Lok Sabha constituency. He is one of the senior most leaders of the BJP and one of the founding members. Joshi later became the Union Human Resources & Development Minister in the National Democratic Alliance government. Joshi was awarded Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award, in 2017 by the Government of India. Joshi has been a member of RSS since his college days. Joshi was a three-term M.P. from Allahabad before he was defeated in the Lok Sabha elections of May 2004. He won election to the 15th Lok Sabha from Varanasi as a BJP candidate.
He also served as the home minister for 13 days government in 1996. Joshi was appointed as Chairman of the Manifesto Preparation Board of the BJP in 2009. He was honoured as “Proud Past Alumni” of Allahabad University by Allahabad University Alumni Association. He was a sitting MP from Varanasi and he vacated that seat for Narendra Modi in 2014 Lok Sabha Elections. He later contested from Kanpur and won from the constituency by a margin of 2.23 lac votes.
Narendra Modi: Narendra Damodardas Modi is an Indian politician, who has served as the 14th prime minister of India since May 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Varanasi. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right wing Hindu nationalist paramilitary volunteer organisation. He is the longest-serving prime minister from outside the Indian National Congress.
In the 2014 Indian general election, Modi led the BJP to a parliamentary majority, the first for a party since 1984. Modi was a candidate for the Lok Sabha constituencies Varanasi and Vadodara. He won in both constituencies, defeating Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal in Varanasi by 371,784 votes and Madhusudan Mistry of the Congress in Vadodara by 570,128 votes. India’s president appointed Modi, who was unanimously elected leader of the BJP, Prime Minister of India. To comply with the law prohibiting MPs from representing more than one constituency, he vacated the Vadodara seat. When Modi was contesting, voter turnout in the 2014 Parliamentary election was 58.35% where as it was 42.61% in 2009 Parliamentary election. Modi garnered 56.37% total votes in Varanasi while Congress candidate opponent Ajay Rai opponent received 7.3% votes in 2014-parliamentary election.
However, AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal also fought against Modi same year and managed to gain 20.3% votes. In 2019, Modi bagged 63.62% votes while his opponent Congress candidate Shalini Yadav received 18.40% votes.