Ajay Rai to contest 2027 Assembly elections from Pindra seat in Varanasi

Congress state president Ajay Rai has announced that he will contest the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections from the Pindra seat in Varanasi. He challenged Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in court over the controversy regarding eating fish-rice.

Ajay Rai said that Congress is a party of struggle and revolutionaries, and workers are being strengthened at the booth level through organizational creation in 75 districts of the state.

The state president recalled that he had won the election from Pindra (formerly Kolsala) seat in 1996, where the deposits of Jan Sangh and BJP candidates used to be forfeited. He said that since then he has won through his hard work. In 2017, BJP's Dr. Avdhesh Singh had won here.

On the fish-rice controversy, Ajay Rai said that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath accused Congress of eating fish-rice, which tarnished his image. He has challenged this matter in court and said that if the allegations are not proven, the Chief Minister should apologize.

He alleged that during the counting of votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission suddenly stopped updating the Varanasi seat and declared Narendra Modi victorious by 1,52,000 votes. Rai said that round-wise figures were not shown to the media and public, raising questions about fairness.

The state president said that the claim of 'zero tolerance' in the state is false and 'jungle raj' prevails everywhere. When a police or ruling party person is involved in a crime, bulldozers do not run at their house. He accused the government of intimidating students in the name of cases.

Ajay Rai said that Kashi is his home and how can he forget Banaras. He criticized the policies of destroying ancient forms and the livelihoods of local people in the name of corridor construction in Kashi, Vindhyachal, and Vrindavan.

He demanded strict action against those accused of manipulating donations received in the name of Ram Temple and commission corruption in construction. Rai said that the pending payments of sugarcane farmers are stuck throughout western UP and old factories have closed down.

The state president said that every Congress worker is fighting the public's issues on the ground and the effect of the organization's hard work will be seen in the upcoming elections.

The final decision on whom to contest with and on how many seats will be made by Congress's national leadership

Ajay Rai, State President

Congress will come with full strength in UP and form the government

State President