Modi to contest from Varanasi

However, both BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are convinced that Modi should contest from Uttar Pradesh, which sends a whopping 80 members to the Lok Sabha. A good performance in the state is crucial to BJP's chances of forming the next government at the Centre.

IN THE RING

Key BJP leaders and their constituencies Narendra Modi: Varanasi Rajnath Singh: Lucknow Arun Jaitley: Amritsar M M Joshi: Kanpur Harsh Vardhan: Chandni Chowk Meenakshi Lekhi: New Delhi Udit Raj: North West Delhi Uma Bharti: Jhansi Satpal Singh: Baghpat Actor leaders Kirron Kher: Chandigarh Manoj Tiwari: North East Delhi Leaders’ children Pravesh Verma (son of Sahib Singh Verma): South Delhi Abhishek Singh (son of Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh): Rajnandgaon

RSS and BJP strategists think Modi's candidature from Varanasi will have a cascading effect on all of UP's seats, particularly in purbanchal - that is, 28 seats of eastern UP and parts of Bihar. That 18 of the 28 eastern UP seats and six of Bihar's 40 seats along the states' border will go to polls on May 12, the last phase of the elections, is also a factor.

"Modi from Varanasi will send a strong message across UP and the rest of India that our PM candidate can win from anywhere in the country and not just his home state of Gujarat," said a party source.

However, senior party leader H N Ananth Kumar confirmed Modi was contesting from two seats - besides Varanasi, one in Gujarat. Party sources said Modi's second constituency could be any of Gujarat's 26 seats. It is likely that Modi could contest from Vadodara.

Gujarat has single-phase polling on April 30, while both Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have six-phase polling. The party will announce the list for Gujarat on March 19.

Fielding Modi from Varanasi is seen as an added advantage. It would keep Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers in both UP and Bihar galvanised until the fag end of the election in the two crucial states. It will also allow Modi at least 10 days of focused campaign in UP and Bihar after polling in

Gujarat is over. Eastern UP, a stronghold for both the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, proved a poor hunting ground for BJP in the 2004 and 2009 elections.

RSS has worked hard to prepare ground for Modi in Varanasi. Sources claim there was electoral method in the decision and not merely a ploy to strike a religious chord of 'Somnath to Kashi Vishwanath'. RSS Sarsanghachalak Mohan Bhagwat spent a week in Varanasi in early February, tuning the Sangh machinery and gauging the mood of the public and both RSS and BJP workers. The issue was discussed at the RSS' all-India convention in Bangalore earlier this month and a final decision taken.

Today's list of nearly 100 candidates came with its troubles, particularly with the party replacing sitting Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu with Jaitley. The flamboyant cricketer told the media he wouldn't have vacated the seat but for his "guru" Jaitley.

The party also named two actors in its fourth list - Kirron Kher from Chandigarh and Manoj Tiwari from North East Delhi.

It was unable to placate senior leader Sushma Swaraj to drop her opposition of B Sriramulu, the protege of jailed illegal mafia baron G Janardhana Reddy, from joining the party and being fielded from Bellary in Karnataka. She tweeted that Sriramulu was back in the party "despite my stiff opposition". Sriramulu is seen as the advance party of the Reddy brothers.

Jaitley, in a swipe at Swaraj, wrote in his blog on Saturday that "relatively marginal issues such as declaration of candidates, particularly who is in and who is out, cannot be allowed to dominate the political agenda in BJP. These issues divert the attention from the core issues of governance".

The list included former Mumbai commissioner of police Satpal Singh from Baghpat, Maneka Gandhi from Pilibhit, her son Varun Gandhi from Sultanpur, Kalraj Mishra from Deoria and Uma Bharti from Jhansi. It has decided to field its Delhi unit chief Dr Harsh Vardhan from Delhi's Chandni Chowk constituency, Bhojpuri actor Manor Tiwari from North East Delhi, dalit leader Udit Raj from the reserved North West Delhi and spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi from the New Delhi constituency.

With this list, BJP had announced candidates for a little over 300 seats.