Congress candidate Rai kick-starts campaign against ‘outsider’ Modi
VARANASI: To counter the Modi wave on the crowded election turf of Varanasi, Congress candidate Ajai Rai kicked off his campaign on Wednesday. His catchphrase — local vs outsider.
“I have stood by the people here for the past 15 years, irrespective of whether I won or lost the elections, while (Narendra) Modi is best recalled as a rioter from Gujarat. I am a son of the soil, have a network on the ground, but outsiders such as Modi, Mukhtar Ansari and (Arvind) Kejriwal don’t,” said Rai.
He knows the strengths and weaknesses of the area, as he has been state legislator five times, thrice as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) man. Rai quit the party when it did not field him for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
“The local vs outsider slogan is a result of the political ploys parties are playing in Varanasi. Hema Malini is contesting from Mathura, Modi and Kejriwal from Varanasi. People understand such vested interest politics,” said former head of public relation department in Banaras Hindu University Vishwanath Pandey.
Dipak Malik, director, Gandhian Institute of Studies, said, “Being an outsider is not a crime. But logically a contestant should be one who is working in a particular constituency. There were complaints against (Murli Manohar) Joshi that he did nothing after winning as he did not belong to the place. The same thing might trouble Modi.”
According to political analyst Rachna Srivastava, there were two segments of voters — one struggling with problems of infrastructure daily and the other, a more evolved electorate, well aware of the impact of national politics.
“More than 50% are the ones who struggle for a livelihood and they are looking forward to someone who can solve their problems. A local candidate might just be the right option for such voters,” she adds.