Congress banks on Ajay Rai again in Varanasi against PM Modi; All you need to know about Ajay Rai
The Congress party unveiled its latest roster of 46 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on Saturday, marking another significant development in its election preparations.
Among the prominent names announced by the party, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has been nominated to contest from the Rajgarh Lok Sabha constituency. Additionally, Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai has been fielded as the party's candidate from Varanasi, where he will face Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Ajay Rai, a seasoned politician with a strong local influence in the Varanasi region, boasts a political career marked by various party affiliations. Beginning his journey as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party's student wing, Rai has navigated through different political alignments over the years. Notably, he secured victory in the Legislative Assembly elections from the Kolasla constituency on three consecutive occasions between 1996 and 2007 under the BJP banner.
However, Rai's departure from the BJP stemmed from being denied a Lok Sabha ticket, leading him to join the Samajwadi Party where he contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections unsuccessfully.
Subsequently, Rai tasted success in the 2009 Legislative Assembly by-election from the Kolasla constituency as an independent candidate. In 2012, he aligned himself with the Indian National Congress, winning the Assembly elections from the newly formed Pindra constituency, which incorporated a significant portion of the erstwhile Kolasla constituency.
Rai's electoral journey also includes his candidature for the Varanasi parliamentary seat in both the 2014 and 2019 general elections, where he faced defeat against Narendra Modi.
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Assam to lift all cases against Koch Rajbongshis in Foreigners' Tribunals: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma
Guwahati, Apr 4 (PTI): The Assam cabinet has decided to lift all cases pending against people from the Koch Rajbongshi community in the Foreigners' Tribunals, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.
They will also no longer carry the tag of 'D' or doubtful voters, he said.
''There are 28,000 cases pending in different Foreigners' Tribunals in the state against people of the community. The cabinet has taken a historic decision of lifting the cases with immediate effect,'' Sarma said at a press conference here after the cabinet meeting.
The government believes that the Koch Rajbongshis are an indigenous community of the state and they are an inextricable part of ''our social and cultural fabric'', he asserted.
The people of this community are poor and have suffered a lot over the years, he said.
''They will no longer carry the tag of foreigners or ‘D’ voters,'' the CM said.
Foreigners Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies, particularly in Assam, established to determine if a person residing in India is a "foreigner" as defined by the Foreigners Act of 1946, based on the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order of 1964.
These tribunals are designed to address matters related to citizenship and the presence of “foreigners” in India, specifically focusing on cases where someone is suspected of being an illegal immigrant.
There are 100 Foreigners’ Tribunals across Assam.
The Koch Rajbongshis have a sizeable presence in Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya, and parts of Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan, and they demand Scheduled Tribe status.
