Fight between 'dhartiputra' and outsider, says Ajay Rai, who will take on Narendra Modi

Varanasi: Ajay Rai says he can defeat Narendra Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, in Varanasi. He draws his remarkable confidence from being a local.

"Only the son of Banaras will win... Banaras is the city of Har Har Mahadev.... Har Har Modi cannot be here," the 45-year-old Congress MLA said after his party named him as its candidate against Mr Modi. (India Votes: full coverage)

Defeating Mr Modi could be a tall order, but as opponents go, say locals, Mr Rai is no pushover. He knows the strengths and weaknesses of the rival BJP in the area - he has been state legislator five times, three of those as a BJP man.

Mr Rai, who has many criminal cases against him, left the party when it did not give him an election ticket for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections and contested as a Samajwadi Party candidate instead. He placed third after the BJP's Murli Manohar Joshi and the BSP's Mukhtar Ansari. In 2012, he contested the Uttar Pradesh state elections of 2012 as a Congressman and won the Pindra seat in Varanasi.

Mr Rai says his last-minute candidacy is not a disadvantage. "I don't need 15 days to prep for these elections. I have been preparing for the last 15, 18 years, serving the people. I know every household, every lane of Benaras. It will take them years to catch up," the Congress candidate said, adding, "This is a fight between a dhartiputra (son of the soil) and an outsider. The people will know who has come to con them."

This is Ajay Rai's biggest moment in his 21-year political career. Surrounded by smiling supporters, he thanked Congress president Sonia Gandhi and "Behen (sister) Priyanka, Bhai (brother) Rahul" profusely for the opportunity.

There was much speculation on who the Congress would pick to contest against Mr Modi; the name of general secretary Digvijaya Singh did the rounds for a bit, union minister Anand Sharma offered to contest. The party reportedly assessed whether to field a national leader before settling for a strong local candidate who can actually garner support.  

The Congress wants Mr Rai to be a consensus candidate and has appealed to the Samajwadi Party and BSP to support its candidate against Narendra Modi and also Aam AAdmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal, who has challenged Mr Modi in Varanasi, making it the most keenly watched contest in these general elections.

The Samajwadi Party has already named a candidate.

Varanasi votes on May 12, the last of nine phases of polling in these general elections.