Varanasi will elect Modi by a huge margin: Rajnath Singh

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh has said the party's prime ministerial nominee, Narendra Modi, will be elected from Varanasi by a huge margin, and added that his rivals will lose their deposits.

Singh said: "It is a matter of great pride for me, if the prime minister is from my motherland. I am sure that development of this region will take place. Development is part of his (Modi's) nature," he said.

Opinion polls indicate that the BJP and its allies could take the largest share of seats in the 543-member Lower House of the parliament after the results of the five-week-long election is announced on May 16.

Singh said: "The BJP-led NDA will not only cross the magic figure of 272 but it will get more than 300 seats in this parliament polls. The possibility of the BJP itself crossing 272-mark can't be ruled out."

"I am also a common man. Narendra Modi's father was a tea vendor and Narendra Modi used to sell tea on a railway platform. Who else could be more common man than him?," he asked.

About 815 million people would have cast their votes by the time polls end on May 12.