<p>Congress on Thursday fielded Ajay Rai against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, ending speculation about Priyanka Gandhi Vadra entering the electoral fray from the temple town in Uttar Pradesh.</p>.<p>Rai, a five-term UP legislator, had finished third in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections managing to gather 75.614 votes. AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal came second having polled 2.09 lakh votes. Modi had won the seat with a margin of 3.71 lakh votes.</p>.<p>Rai's nomination has put an end to the suspense over Priyanka challenging Modi in Varanasi. Speculation over Priyanka's candidature from Varanasi intensified after Congress President Rahul Gandhi had said that he would like to maintain the suspense over his sister's poll plans.</p>.<p>AICC General Secretary Mukul Wasnik made the announcement of Rai's candidature on a day Modi was to hold a roadshow in Varanasi on the eve of filing his nomination papers for the May 19 election.</p>.<p>Priyanka, who entered active politics on January, also provided fodder to the speculation with her comments that she would like to contest from Varanasi if her brother asked her to do so.</p>.<p>A view within the Congress was that as a candidate, Priyanka would have had to focus more on Varanasi and not eastern Uttar Pradesh, her primary responsibility. Congress has always considered Priyanka as a 'brahmastra', and a loss to Modi could have diminished its value in future elections.</p>.<p>Rai had started his political career as a BJP youth wing activist and later was with the Samajwadi Party before joining the Congress in 2009.</p>.<p>The Samajwadi Party on Monday declared Shalini Yadav as its candidate from Varanasi.</p>.<p>The Congress also fielded Madhusudan Tiwari from Gorakhpur against BJP's Ravi Kishan, a popular Bhojpuri film star.</p>.<p>With the announcement of the two seats, the Congress has named candidates for 424 seats in all.</p>.<p>Prime Minister Modi will file his nomination papers for the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat on Friday in the presence of senior NDA leaders, including JD(U) president Nitish Kumar and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.</p>
<p>Congress on Thursday fielded Ajay Rai against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, ending speculation about Priyanka Gandhi Vadra entering the electoral fray from the temple town in Uttar Pradesh.</p>.<p>Rai, a five-term UP legislator, had finished third in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections managing to gather 75.614 votes. AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal came second having polled 2.09 lakh votes. Modi had won the seat with a margin of 3.71 lakh votes.</p>.<p>Rai's nomination has put an end to the suspense over Priyanka challenging Modi in Varanasi. Speculation over Priyanka's candidature from Varanasi intensified after Congress President Rahul Gandhi had said that he would like to maintain the suspense over his sister's poll plans.</p>.<p>AICC General Secretary Mukul Wasnik made the announcement of Rai's candidature on a day Modi was to hold a roadshow in Varanasi on the eve of filing his nomination papers for the May 19 election.</p>.<p>Priyanka, who entered active politics on January, also provided fodder to the speculation with her comments that she would like to contest from Varanasi if her brother asked her to do so.</p>.<p>A view within the Congress was that as a candidate, Priyanka would have had to focus more on Varanasi and not eastern Uttar Pradesh, her primary responsibility. Congress has always considered Priyanka as a 'brahmastra', and a loss to Modi could have diminished its value in future elections.</p>.<p>Rai had started his political career as a BJP youth wing activist and later was with the Samajwadi Party before joining the Congress in 2009.</p>.<p>The Samajwadi Party on Monday declared Shalini Yadav as its candidate from Varanasi.</p>.<p>The Congress also fielded Madhusudan Tiwari from Gorakhpur against BJP's Ravi Kishan, a popular Bhojpuri film star.</p>.<p>With the announcement of the two seats, the Congress has named candidates for 424 seats in all.</p>.<p>Prime Minister Modi will file his nomination papers for the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat on Friday in the presence of senior NDA leaders, including JD(U) president Nitish Kumar and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.</p>
