New Delhi, March 16 (IANS) BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi late Saturday thanked the party for announcing his candidature for the Lok Sabha polls from the temple town of Varanasi.

“Grateful to the Party for giving me opportunity to contest the election from the holy city of Varanasi! An honour to contest from Varanasi,” Modi tweeted minutes after the announcement.

“With blessings of Ganga Mata & Kashi Vishwanath, let us work towards success of Mission 272+ & create a strong, vibrant & prosperous India,” he said in another tweet.

Modi replaced Bharatiya Janata Party leader and sitting Lok Sabha member from Varanasi Murli Manohar Joshi, who has been shifted to Kanpur.