Modi to visit Varanasi on Monday to thank voters

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit his parliamentary constituency Varanasi on Monday to thank the people for "reposing faith" in him and offer prayers at the famous Kashi Vishwanath temple.

After reaching Varanasi, Modi will travel by road from the police lines to Bansphatak, with his cavalcade passing through various parts of the city.

He will pay obeisance at the Kashi Vishwanath temple on Monday morning and later address a gathering of workers of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), party sources said.

Earlier on Saturday, Modi had tweeted, "Will be going to Gujarat tomorrow evening, to seek blessings of my Mother. Day after tomorrow morning, I will be in Kashi to thank the people of this great land for reposing their faith in me."

District Magistrate Surendra Singh said heavy security has been put in place for the PM's visit.

Singh, along with Senior Superintendent of Police Anand Kulkarni, reviewed the security arrangements for Modi's visit.

A large number of security, paramilitary and Special Protection Group personnel have been deployed in places where Modi will be visiting.

This will be Modi's first visit to his constituency after he won the Lok Sabha elections by a huge margin of 4.79 lakh votes.

Modi not only retained his seat, but also saw his victory margin increase by nearly 1 lakh votes as compared to the 2014 general elections.

In a video message ahead of the May 19 polling, Modi had called himself a "Kashivasi" and termed the city his guiding spirit.

He had said that it was a matter of great satisfaction for him that he was in service of the city whose presiding deity is Lord Shiva.

Modi also led the BJP to a resounding victory for a second term in office.

In first back-to-back majority in the general elections for a single party in over three decades, the Modi-led BJP won 303 out of 542 Lok Sabha seats that went to polls, handing out a crushing defeat to the Congress and many other political opponents.