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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Maharashtra: All files to be vetted by Shinde before being sent to CM Fadnavis
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has ordered that all files will now go through Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde before being presented to CM Devendra Fadnavis for approval.
The moves seeks to revive an arrangement which existed in 2023 of files being vetted by the then two deputy CMs --Ajit Pawar and Fadnavis -- before being forwarded to then CM Shinde.
State Chief Secretary Sujata Saunik issued an order to this effect on March 18. "Since July 26, 2023, files were moved from Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who holds the finance department, to (then) Deputy CM Fadnavis, who held the home, law and judiciary departments before being sent to (then) CM Shinde for approval," as per the order.
This arrangement was made after Pawar, who was then leader of opposition in the state assembly, joined the Shinde-led government along with a several NCP MLAs on July 2, 2023.
Now, with Fadnavis taking charge as chief minister, following the victory of the Mahayuti (comprising BJP, Shinde's Shiv Sena and Pawar-led NCP) in the state polls last year, the arrangement has been changed.
All files will be routed from Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, who continues to hold the finance department, to Eknath Shinde, who is also the deputy CM and holds housing and urban development portfolios.
The files will be sent to Fadnavis after Shinde's approval, as per the latest order.
Since the Mahayuti 2.0 took over, there has been speculation of a "cold war" between Shinde and Fadnavis. Both the leaders have strongly denied the speculation.
There have been disagreements over the guardian minister posts of some districts. Fadnavis had to revoke his decision on the appointment of guardian ministers of Nashik and Raigad districts after objections from Shinde.
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