“Na Mai Yaha Aaya Hoon, Na Mujhe Kisi Ne Bheja Hai, Mujhe Toh Maa Ganga Ne Bulaya Hai (Neither have I come here nor has anyone sent me, Mother Ganga has called me),” said Narendra Modi, then Chief Minister of Gujarat as he filed his nomination from Varanasi Lok Sabha seat in 2014. Recalling the same remark on Tuesday as he filed his nomination for the third time from Varanasi, Modi said that mother Ganga had adopted him and his bond with Kashi is similar to a mother’s relation with her son.

Taking to X, the Prime Minister said it is an honour to serve the people of the historic seat of Varanasi.

“Filed my nomination papers as a candidate for the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat. It is an honour to serve the people of this historic seat. With the blessings of the people, there have been remarkable achievements over the last decade. This pace of work will get even faster in the times to come,” PM Modi tweeted.

Pandit Ganeshwar Shastri, a member of the Brahmin community who is known for determining the auspicious time for the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, and UP CM Yogi Adityanath accompanied the Prime Minister inside the nomination centre.