Varanasi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a mega roadshow in his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi on Thursday, a show of strength that will include Union ministers, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and other senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Modi, who will file his nomination papers for the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat on Friday, is expected to start his roadshow by first garlanding the statue of Banaras Hindu University founder Pundit Madan Mohan Malviya. 

The roadshow will stretch over 6 km, going from the Lanka Gate of the BHU to Dashashwamedh Ghat via Godoliya, party insiders said.

Top BJP leaders, including Union ministers Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal and Nirmala Sitharaman, as well as BJP president Amit Shah and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states, are expected to accompany the Prime Minister.

"In this (nomination) programme, Akali Dal's senior leader and former chief minister (Punjab) Shri Parkash Singh Badal ji, Bihar chief minister and JDU chief Shri Nitish Kumar ji, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray ji, central minister and president of Lok Janshakti Party Ram Vilas Paswanji will be present," the party press release had said. 

The party on Wednesday said the Prime Minister would participate in Ganga Arti at Dashashwamedh Ghat after the roadshow. At 8 PM, he will have a conversation with eminent personalities of Varanasi at Hotel de Paris.

On Friday, the PM will address booth heads and party workers at 9.30 AM and go on to worship the city god Kal Bhairav at 11 AM. 

The release added that leaders of the AIADMK, Apna Dal and North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) will also be present.