Congress Candidate Ajay Rai Trailing Behind PM Modi in Varanasi: 2024 Lok Sabha Election Update

As per early trends based on the data available on the Election Commission’s website, in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi constituency with 12000 votes after trailing for a brief period. is however the second lead.

The Varanasi Lok Sabha seat is one of the most important constituencies among the total of 543 parliamentary seats with Mr. Modi aiming for a third consecutive victory since choosing it as a launchpad in 2014 as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the BJP. In 2019, the Prime Minister polled 6,74,664 votes, which is roughly 63% of the total votes polled.

Mr. Rai who contested as a Congress candidate, polled 1,52,548 votes. He had also contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls against Mr. Modi and came third polling 75,614 votes. Mr. Rai, who is also the Uttar Pradesh Congress president had begun his political journey with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and went on to be elected to the UP Assembly three times — in 1996, 2002 and 2007 from the Kolasla seat in Varanasi.

He joined the Congress in 2012 and went on to win the newly-formed Pindra seat in Varanasi. In 2014, he was pitted against the Prime Minister for the first time but finished third behind Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal. The five-time MLA has throughout held significant organisational responsibilities in the Congress.

While campaigning for the elections, Mr. Rai pushed the ‘migrant’ or ‘outsider’ narrative claiming that only if the ‘outsider’ is shown the exit door would the ‘Ganga-Jamuni culture of Kashi’ be saved.