On Thursday, Ajay Rai, a former legislator, will assume leadership of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC). The newly elected president of the UP Congress will meet with party members and UPCC office holders at noon today after taking office, according to party sources.
Ajay Rai will decorate the statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, Sardar Patel, and Rajiv Gandhi, among other leaders, after taking office, according to the sources. National Secretaries, senior leaders in the Congress, party office holders, and employees will all be present. Ajay Rai’s appointment is seen as a major boost for the party workers as the Congress party prepares for significant changes in the state Congress in light of the Lok Sabha elections. Rahul Gandhi will run from Amethi in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Ajay Rai announced earlier this month.
Confirming Rahul Gandhi’s candidature, Rai said that the people of Amethi consider him as part of their family.
“The people of Amethi consider him (Rahul Gandhi) as their family because he fulfilled the promises. Rahul Gandhi has connected with local people by doing the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and people now believe that it is the Gandhi family who understands our problems and concerns. The people want Congress to come into power.”
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi was defeated by Smriti Irani in Amethi, a district that was once thought of as a Congress party stronghold, by a margin of about 55,000 votes. Most notably, Ajay Rai ran unsuccessfully from Varanasi in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.