Rajeev Rai SP | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation(s) | Educationist, social work and politics |
| Political party | Samajwadi Party |
| Website | rajeevrai |
Rajeev Rai is an Indian politician. As of 2020 he was is the National Secretary and official spokesperson of the Samajwadi Party.[1][2][3][4]
Rai was handpicked by Akhilesh Yadav for the role as SP spokesperson.[5] Rai and Yadav had become close friends in the mid-1990s, during Yadav's student days in Mysore.[6][7] After the electoral debacle of 2009, Rai was inducted into the inner core of the party leadership.[6] Based in Bangalore, he ran a number of educational institutions in Karnataka - eleven colleges in Bangalore and a pharmacy college.[6][7][8] In addition to his role as National Secretary of the party, he was placed in charge of the party organization in Karnataka.[9][10][11] He was a chief guest at the 8th Garshom Awards ceremony, held in Kuwait in 2011.[12]
Rai was brought up to Uttar Pradesh for the 2012 Legislative Assembly election, and appeared prominently in many media outlets during the election campaign.[5][7][8] However, he was suspended from his post as SP party secretary in 2012.[11][13][8] Rai's removal occurred just after Yadav had been elected as the leader of SP in the UP legislature.[5] The suspension was motivated by a statement by Rai on Aaj Tak which had angered Azam Khan, a leader of the 'old guard' within the party.[14] Rai denied the accusations against him, and was reinstated in his posts in the party leadership after a four month period.[15][16]
By 2013, Rai remained identified as a member 'Team Akilesh' within the party and was selected as the SP candidate for the Ghosi seat in the 2014 Indian general election.[8][17] Rai was added to the list of SP candidates replacing former parliamentarian Balkrishna Chauha.[17][18] At the time, no rationale was publicly offered by the party as to why Chauha was replaced by Rai as the SP candidate.[19] With a declared fortune of 165.5 million Indian rupees, Rai was noted as tenth richest candidate in the impoverished eastern UP region.[20] Rai obtained 165,887 votes (16%).[21]
In June 2018 Rai was critically injured in a traffic accident, whilst returning to Ballia from Varanasi.[22][23]
References
edit- ^ "Rajeev Kumar Rai(Samajwadi Party(SP)):Constituency- GHOSI(UTTAR PRADESH) - Affidavit Information of Candidate:". myneta.info.
- ^ "सड़क दुर्घटना में सपा के राष्ट्रीय सचिव व उनकी मां घायल". Amar Ujala.
- ^ https://www.samajwadiparty.in/official-spokespersons
- ^ Economic Times. BJP comfortably placed as SP, BSP hardly visible in UP
- ^ a b c Indian Express. Akhilesh removes his chosen man
- ^ a b c India Today. Team Akhilesh
- ^ a b c Indian Express. 2014 LS polls: SP sets sights on Karnataka
- ^ a b c d OneIndia. अखिलेश ने राजीव राय को किया पार्टी से बेदखल
- ^ Udayavani. ಸಮಾಜವಾದಿ ಪಕ್ಷದ ಪಟ್ಟಿ ಪ್ರಕಟ
- ^ New Indian Express. SP aims to do a UP in Karnataka
- ^ a b NDTV. अखिलेश ने राजीव राय को राष्ट्रीय सचिव पद से हटाया
- ^ Times of India. NRIs in Kuwait receive prestigious award
- ^ Hindustan Times. Akhilesh suspends aide for 'overboard statements'
- ^ DelhiMarch 12, India Today Online New; March 12, 2012UPDATED:; Ist, 2012 10:01. "SP removes Akhilesh aide Rajiv Rai for anti-party activities". India Today.
{{cite web}}:|first3=has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Indian Express. SP changes five LS candidates
- ^ Jagran. राजीव राय फिर बने सपा के राष्ट्रीय सचिव व प्रवक्ता
- ^ a b Times of India. SP replaces 5 candidates for Lok Sabha elections
- ^ UNI. http://www.uniindia.com/former-mp-expelled-from-bsp-in-up/north/news/1492628.html Former MP expelled from BSP in UP
- ^ Zee News. SP announces new candidates for five Lok Sabha sea
- ^ Daily Siasat. 19 seats and 93 crorepatis in abjected eastern Uttar Pradesh
- ^ Aaj Tak. घोसी के रण में राय बनाम राजभर, जातीय समीकरण से किसकी होगी नैया पार
- ^ UNI. SP leader severely injured in road mishap
- ^ News 18. मऊ: सड़क हादसे में गंभीर रूप से घायल हुए सपा नेता राजीव राय