INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi filed his nomination papers for the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat today (26), accompanied by a galaxy of top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders in what was a massive show of strength for the country's ruling alliance.
Bihar chief minister and JD-U chief Nitish Kumar, union minister and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan, Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray and Shiromani Akali Dal patron Parkash Singh Badal were with Modi at the collectorate as Modi filed his papers, seeking a second term in the Lok Sabha from the temple town.
BJP leaders, including party president Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and senior union ministers Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj, were also present on the occasion.
Before reaching the Varanasi collectorate to file his nomination, Modi went to a temple to offer prayers.
The prime minister, who reached here on Thursday (25) and brought life to a standstill as he held a seven kilometre roadshow through the town, also addressed party workers in the morning.
A youth carries an elderly man as they wade through a flooded street after heavy rainfall in Wellampitiya on the outskirts of Colombo on November 30, 2025. The death toll from floods and landslides triggered by Cyclone Ditwah has risen to at least 334 people across Sri Lanka, with nearly 400 still missing, the Disaster Management Centre said on November 30. Getty Images
A man carries his cat across a flooded road in Wellampitiya on the outskirts of Colombo on November 29, 2025. Sri Lanka made an appeal for international assistance on November 29 as the death toll from heavy rains and floods triggered by Cyclone Ditwah rose to 123, with another 130 reported missing. Getty Images