For comments on Smriti Irani, Congress leader under fire: Who is Ajay Rai?

He then went on to add, “Most of the factories in Amethi are on the verge of closure. Half of the factories in the Jagdishpur industrial area are lying shut. Smriti Irani only comes, shows ‘latka-jhatka’, and leaves.”

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Irani defeated Rahul from Amethi that was considered the Gandhi family’s pocket borough.

Reacting to Rai’s remark, Irani said that Rahul and Sonia Gandhi needed a new scriptwriter. “You and Mummy ji need to get your misogynistic goons a new speechwriter,” the Union minister tweeted.

By Tuesday, a case was registered against Rai at Robertsganj Police Station in Sonbhadra district on a complaint lodged by BJP women wing district president Puspa Devi. The National Commission for Women (NCW) also summoned Rai, saying “the remarks are outrageous and extremely derogatory”. The NCW has sent a notice to Rai to appear before it on December 28 at 12 pm.

Undeterred by it, the 52-year-old muscleman-turned-politician refused to apologise. “Amethi is in bad condition. Roads are damaged, factories are closed and new units have not yet started after years. People expect their leader to be among them. If someone comes, takes a tour and leave, what do you call them? It is a common language. There is nothing unparliamentary in it,” Rai said, defending himself.

Former BJP leader

Rai unsuccessfully contested against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi. But he began his political career in BJP and joined the Congress in 2012.

A five-time MLA, Rai has been elected to the UP Assembly three times on a BJP ticket — 1996, 2002 and 2007 from the Kolasla seat in Varanasi. In 2009, he wanted to contest the Lok Sabha election from Varanasi. However, with senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi getting the ticket, he resigned from the party to contest against Joshi as a Samajwadi Party candidate. He lost.

Rai contested the 2009 bypoll from Kolasla as an independent candidate and won.

Digvijaya Singh, who was Congress general secretary in charge of UP in 2012, played a significant role in Rai’s entry into the party. He contested the 2012 Assembly by-election from the Pindra seat in Varanasi as a Congress candidate and became the MLA for the fifth time.

In 2015, Rai was arrested for his alleged role in violence during a protest march by seers opposing police against locals objecting to the ban on the immersion of idols in Ganga. It was said that Rai was a leading force behind the march. Rai had to serve over seven months in jail.

With most of the prominent faces of Congress from east UP leaving the party in the past few years, including the family members of Rajesh Pati Tripathi and former MLA Lalitesh Pati Tripathi, Rai has been trusted with the task of reviving the party in the Prayagraj region.

Rai failed to win Assembly polls in 2017 and 2022 but continues to hold significant organisational responsibilities in the Congress.

The Congress leadership’s trust in him can be ascertained from the fact that in the recent reshuffle of the state unit by general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, he was made the party president for the Prayagraj region, with about 12 districts of east UP under his charge.