Modi seeks personal triumph in final round of Indian election

Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi (2-R) prime ministerial candidate for India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), waves to his supporters as he arrives to file his nomination papers for the general elections in the northern Indian city of Varanasi April 24, 2014. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

VARANASI India (Reuters) - India's general election reaches a climax on Monday as opposition challenger Narendra Modi seeks a personal mandate in Varanasi, the holy city on the river Ganges, to govern by his modernised brand of Hindu nationalism.

Modi is the first prime ministerial candidate to stand in the 3,000-year-old city where several religions mingle. Varanasi is an ancient centre of Buddhism but one in six voters is Muslim; Hindus believe that to die here brings salvation by escaping the cycle of reincarnation.