Ahead of the impending Lok Sabha elections, the Congress party unveiled its fourth list comprising 45 candidates, including notable names such as Ajay Rai, who is set to contest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi, and former Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijaya Singh, who will be contesting from Rajgarh constituency.
The newly released list features Danish Ali as the candidate from Amroha, while Imran Masood and Alok Mishra have been nominated to contest from Saharanpur and Kanpur constituencies, respectively.
Ajay Rai’s political journey traces back to his initial association with BJP’s student wing ABVP, followed by three consecutive victories in the UP legislative assembly elections from the Kolasla constituency on a BJP ticket. Rai later shifted allegiance to the Samajwadi Party after being denied a Lok Sabha ticket. Subsequently, he joined the Congress in 2012 and secured victory in the UP assembly elections from the Pindra constituency. However, Rai faced defeat in the 2017 state elections from Pindra as a Congress candidate.
Notably, Rai has previously contested against PM Modi in the Varanasi parliamentary constituency in both the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, albeit without success.
The forthcoming Lok Sabha elections are scheduled to be conducted in seven phases, commencing on April 19 and concluding on June 1, with the counting of votes slated for June 4. Phase 1 polling will take place on April 19, followed by subsequent phases on April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1, covering a total of 543 parliamentary constituencies.
