Final Up to date: March 24, 2024, 11:13 IST
Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee President Ajay Rai.
Ajay Rai, a outstanding chief in Uttar Pradesh politics is at the moment the top of Congress’s UP unit and holds sturdy affect within the state
The Congres get together fielded former BJP chief and its Uttar Pradesh unit chief Ajay Rai to tackle Prime Minister Narendra Modi within the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from Varanasi for the third time.
A veteran political chief from Uttar Pradesh, Rai challenged PM Modi within the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections as effectively from Varanasi however misplaced each instances.
Who’s Ajay Rai?
Ajay Rai, a outstanding chief in Uttar Pradesh politics is at the moment the top of Congress’s UP unit and holds sturdy affect within the state, one of many prime causes behind his candidature from Varanasi regardless of fixed losses.
A former BJP chief, Rai started his profession with the RSS scholar wing ABVP and received the UP legislative meeting elections from the Kolasla constituency 3 times in a row between 1996 and 2007 on a BJP ticket.
After being denied a ticket, Rai ditched the BJP to affix the Samajwadi Social gathering because the saffron get together picked veteran chief Murli Manohar Joshi as its Lok Sabha candidate from Varanasi. He then misplaced the election towards Joshi.
In 2012, Rai joined the Congress and received the UP meeting elections from the Pindra constituency. In 2017, Rai misplaced the state election from Pindra as a Congress candidate.
Within the final Lok Sabha polls, Rai secured the third place from the Varansai seat by bagging only one.52 lakh votes. He obtained a vote share of 14.38 per cent towards PM Modi’s vote share of 63.62 per cent.
Congress named Rai as the brand new president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC), changing Dalit chief Brijlal Khabri, in August 2023.
Rai is from the Bhumihar group, which has some affect and political weight in sure pockets of jap Uttar Pradesh. Purvanchal as soon as was once a Congress stronghold, however now’s dominated by the BJP
Why Congress Fielded Ajay Rai Towards PM Modi?
Rai’s appointment as of the Congress get together was all about giving the get together a contemporary begin from the bottom degree in Uttar Pradesh, the place he enjoys important assist and affect.
Rai’s contribution through the Congress’s Bharat Jodo and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra – which predominantly convey the message of the get together taking to the streets to hearken to the frequent individuals, Ajai Rai’s candidature will be seen in sync with the identical. The get together desires somebody who can tackle PM Modi as a complete in Uttar Pradesh.
The Congress on Saturday launched its fourth listing of 45 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls fielding veteran chief Digvijaya Singh from Madhya Pradesh’s Rajgarh and newly-inducted chief Lal Singh from Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur to tackle Union minister Jitendra Singh.
