Former BJP minister and MLA Ajay Rai today declared that he would contest the by-elections from Kolasla assembly constituency here as an independent candidate.
Rai, who was earlier in the BJP had represented Kolasla in the current Vidhan Sabha and was elected in the two earlier terms as well. He left the BJP and contested the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat as a Samajwadi Party candidate in April, but lost.
Addressing his supporters at a "Mahapanchayat" organised at National Inter college in Kolasla about 25 kilometres from here, Rai said he was fighting the elections accepting the demand of the common voters.
Rai said that the people of Kolasla had elected him thrice to the Vidhan Sabha not because of his caste or creed rather people have voted for him because he had always worked for the development of the constituency. Byelections are to be held in Kolasla with the eleven other assembly constituencies in UP.
