M A I N   N E W S

Cong picks local MLA to take on Modi in Varanasi
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

Cong nominee Ajai Rai

Rai, a five-time MLA who represents the Pindra segment in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, was chosen amid offers by Congress heavyweights such as general secretary Digvijay Singh and Commerce Minister Anand Sharma to take on Modi in Varanasi. The party, however, justified its move to field Rai, saying a local person would be better placed strategically in a battle between two outsiders — Modi and AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal. Privately, however, top Congress leaders told The Tribune that the party had no option but to get a Varanasi nominee after it failed to strike a deal with the SP and BSP on fielding a heavyweight. “Fielding a formidable outsider would have helped if the SP and the BSP also backed our candidate. That didn’t materialise as both parties had already announced their nominees. It was then considered better to field a local and among locals, Rai was the best option,” a senior Congress leader said.

Officially, the party rejected conjecture that it had deliberately fielded a weak candidate against Modi to reciprocate the BJP’s gesture of mounting symbolic fights against Congress heavyweights Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in Rae Bareilly and Amethi, respectively.

BJP’s Smriti Irani can at best make the Amethi fight interesting considering she lost heavily to Congress’ Kapil Sibal in Chandni Chowk in 2009. Likewise, BJP’s Ajay Agarwal, a lawyer, can hardly match Sonia’s charisma in Bareilly. But Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said there was no reciprocity. “We would never compromise on our ideals or election strategy.” He backed Rai’s candidature saying he was consciously chosen as he was a local “who knew Varanasi’s history and its people’s concerns better than anyone else”.

Ground realities, however, don’t paint a very heartening picture for the Congress that may well have ensured a Modi-Kejriwal contest in Varanasi. Rai, though a local Bhumihaar leader (Banaras has a substantial Bhumihaar population), doesn’t have a track record of loyalty though he has won some Assembly elections.

Originally from BJP, Rai quit the party in 2009 when Murli Manohar Joshi was chosen over him. He challenged Joshi on a Samajwadi Party ticket and finished a distant third (after Joshi and BSP’s Mukhtar Ansari). Rai deserted the SP in 2012 after he was denied an Assembly ticket. He contested as an Independent from Pindra and won. Later, he joined the Congress.