Ballia: Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai has alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi won his Lok Sabha seat in Varanasi through vote manipulation. Speaking in Ballia on Monday, Rai claimed that the Election Commission’s website was shut down during the counting process.
According to him, he was leading for seven rounds in 2019 but the website was inaccessible from 1 pm to 5 pm. Later, the official result declared Modi as the winner. “How can a candidate who leads for seven rounds suddenly lose? I have been elected five times as MLA and I know how elections are fought and lost. Modi became Prime Minister through stolen votes,” Rai alleged.
He also raised concerns about alleged voter manipulation in Bihar through Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, claiming poor and ordinary voters were being deprived of their rights. Rai said his party, along with the INDIA alliance, was protesting to safeguard democracy.
On the issue of renaming Ghazipur, Rai accused the BJP of engaging only in name-change politics instead of setting up new industries. He claimed that factories in Ballia and Ghazipur, established under Congress governments, were shut down during BJP rule.
Rai’s controversial statements have drawn attention in the past. In May 2025, he had described Rafale fighter jets as “toys,” while in July 2025 he claimed Modi might leave Varanasi by 2029.
