Modi to contest from Varanasi

Party hopes to create Modi wave in UP which has 80 LS seats

His presence may impact eastern UP which has 32 seats

Murli Manohar Joshi shifted from Varanasi to Kanpur

Candidates for 55 seats in 12 States announced

BJP may also field Modi from Gujarat; List on Mar 19

New Delhi: After much heartburn and mud-slinging in the public, the BJP, after its day-long marathon Central Election Committee meeting, succeeded at last to finalize the seats of its top-brass. BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will be contesting from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, while former BJP President Murli Manohar Joshi will try his luck this time from Kanpur against Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal.

BJP President Rajnath Singh will contest from the prestigious seat of Lucknow, which was represented by former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in the Lok Sabha for five times. With Modi contesting from Varanasi and Rajnath Singh from Lucknow, the party hopes to create a wave in Uttar Pradesh, though it can be argued that they could have won the polls from any other seat in the Hindi-heartland State. Modi is also likely to contest from Gujarat, the seats of which will be announced on March 19.

In the fourth list, seats from 12 States were declared that included states of Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Sikkim, Bihar, Punjab, Delhi,

Uttarakhand and Odisha. From Uttar Pradesh, where 55 seats were declared, the names of Varun Gandhi from Sultanpur and Maneka Gandhi from Pilibhit were cleared. As Sultanpur falls in the Amethi- Rae Bareli belt, the tussle for the Sultanpur seat will be keenly watched where Varun will be pitted against Congress candidate Amita Modi. BJP senior leader Kalraj Mishra, who, too, was interested to contest from Lucknow, has been fielded from Deoria, while Uma Bharati will contest from Jhansi in UP. Film Star Shatrughan Sinha will contest from Patna Sahib while cine actress Kirron Kher will take on Pawan Bansal in Chandigarh.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley has been fielded from Amritsar, despite stiff resistance shown by former cricketer and sitting BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu. He has vent out his anger publicly by saying that he will not contest Lok Sabha polls from anywhere else.

On a day of hectic developments, the trio - Modi, Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley - had to assert themselves for getting the seats of their choice. They tried hard earlier to quell the dissidence but when they failed in their endeavour, they had to assert themselves, leaving the others to sulk. BJP patriarch L K Advani and Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj are feeling sidelined. Arun Jaitley, in his blog, slammed Sushma Swaraj for her tweet opposing the entry of B Sriramulu in Karnataka. "This will divert attention of the people from the core issue of good governance," he said. Sushma had tweeted that Sriramulu was admitted in the BJP, despite her opposition.

BJP General Secretary incharge of Uttar Pradesh Amit Shah was keen on Modi entering the poll fray from the Hindi-heartland State. Choice of Modi from Varanasi has a symbolic significance. After demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, the BJP gave a slogan, "Yeh to ek jhaanki hai, Kashi, Mathura baaki hai (Ayodhya is only a glimpse, Kashi and Mathura still remain)." Apart from the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya, which has been razed to the ground, Varanasi has Gyanvapi Mosque and Mathura has Idgah Mosque, considered disputed by the Sangh.

Apart from the symbolic value, Varanasi is important because of its strategic location. Modi in Varanasi can impact the entire belt of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, which accounts for 32 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats.