Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai on Friday asserted that the Congress-Samajwadi Party coalition is a “natural alliance” and will continue in the upcoming assembly elections to “uproot” the BJP from power in the state.
According to the PTI report, the two parties fought together in the Lok Sabha polls and did well in Uttar Pradesh, with the SP emerging as the largest party in the state by winning 37 seats. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi won from Rae Bareli seat in Uttar Pradesh besides Kerala’s Wayanad.
“Our alliance with the Samajwadi Party is natural and this will continue in the upcoming UP assembly elections too,” Rai told PTI.
The PCC chief said he will travel to Delhi on Saturday and “make a strong plea for Rahulji to retain the Rae Bareli seat in Parliament”.
Rai, who lost the Lok Sabha elections to Varanasi Prime Minister Narendra Modi, commenting on the substantially low margin with which PM Mode won, said, “this is a moral loss for him.”
Modi won this time in Varanasi by a margin of 1,52,513 votes. She had won the 2019 elections by a margin of 4,79,505 votes.
SP’s Shalini Yadav had come second in Varanasi last time, while Rai had secured the third position. Later, Shalini Yadav left the party and joined the BJP.
The Congress leader alleged that Modi’s “development work” in Varanasi is “hyped”, and the fact is that “very little is seen on the ground”.
Rai extended his gratitude to his party workers as well as those of the SP and Aam Aadmi Party for reaching out to the grassroots people in Varanasi to achieve a good result for the opposition in the seat.
Rai began his political career in the BJP, but later moved to the Congress.
He served as an MLA five times since 1996. He left the BJP after being denied a ticket in the 2009 LS elections. He was fielded by the Congress in 2014, 2019 and 2024.