No Priyanka vs Modi, Congress’ Ajay Rai to Contest From Varanasi

Till Thursday, speculations was rife about Priyanka making her electoral debut in Varanasi against PM Modi.

Ending weeks of speculation about a potential heavyweight battle between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi in Varanasi, the party on Thursday, 25 April, announced its decision to field five-time UP MLA Ajay Rai instead.

Rai had contested in Varanasi against Modi and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal in 2014 as well. Back then, Modi had secured 5,81,022 votes as opposed to Kejriwal’s 2,09,238. Rai had only managed 75,614 votes.

Till today, speculation was rife about Priyanka making her electoral debut in Varanasi, in what promised to be a blockbuster contest.