Cong lightweight against Modi

New Delhi: After much hype over fielding a strong candidate against BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, the Congress has finally fielded Ajai Rai, a sitting MLA, for the prestigious Varanasi parliamentary seat. Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal is also contesting from the same seat. Announcing the Congress candidate from Varanasi, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said that, "Ajay Rai is connected with grassroots, has fought a number of elections successfully, is currently a sitting Congress MLA and is, in the party's opinion, the best candidate in Varanasi."

By choosing a relatively lightweight candidate, the Congress has paved the way for Kejriwal to take on Modi in Varanasi. In Vadodara, the Congress has fielded AICC General Secretary Madhusudan Mistry against Modi, who was in the news recently for tearing up the posters of his rival, the Prime Ministerial face of the BJP.

The announcement of Ajai Rai's name from Varanasi comes as a damp squib, after the declaration of the Congress President Sonia Gandhi that the party would field a strong candidate against Modi. The party, which had earlier considered to pit a Congress heavyweight like Digvijay Singh, Anand Sharma or Rashid Alvi against Modi, finally zeroed-in on the name of a local candidate. It, apparently, did not intend to come between the contest of Modi and Kejriwal, especially when there was no seasoned politician, who could give a tough fight to Narendra Modi. Ajai Rai, is a local resident, who has been chosen against the outsiders - Modi and Kejriwal.Ajai Rai had earlier contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2009 on the Samajwadi ticket and lost against BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi. BSP candidate Mukhtar Ansari had emerged second, while Rai had come third. He later contested the UP Assembly elections from Pindra seat of Varanasi and emerged victorious.