New Delhi: Putting an end to the speculation of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra contesting the Lok Sabha elections against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi, Congress Thursday fielded Ajay Rai from the seat again.
Rai, considered a local strongman in Varanasi, was the Congress candidate from the seat in 2014 elections too. He is a former MLA from Pindra that falls under the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency. In 2014 elections, Rai came third after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and secured only 75,614 votes.
Speculation was that Priyanka would take on Modi in Varanasi as she had expressed her willingness to contest from the seat in several occasions. She had maintained if the Congress wanted her to contest from Varanasi, she would consider it. Recently, she had said if her brother and Congress president Rahul Gandhi asked her to contest from Varanasi, she would be happy to do it.
“Why not? Sanghatan ka bohat kaam hai (there is a lot of work to be done for the party). But, if the party asks I will do what they decide,” she said, responding to queries from reporters in Amethi on 27 March over whether she would contest the elections.
“If my party wants me to contest polls, I will definitely contest. My wish is to work for the party,” she had said.
Priyanka was appointed the Congress general secretary for Uttar Pradesh (east) in January. Her launch was aimed at mobilising the party in a crucial state like Uttar Pradesh that sends 80 MPs to the Parliament.
Apart from Rai, the Congress’s Central Election Committee announced Madhusudan Tiwari as the candidate from Gorakhpur.
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