Krishnanand Rai

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Krishnanand Rai was born in the Gazipur district of Uttar Pradesh, India. Youngest of the three brothers, he started his schooling in native village Gondaur. He then finally moved to Varanasi to join Central Hindu School. He was a bright student and soon became the favorite of his teachers. In Varanasi he stayed with his brothers who also came to the city for higher studies. Varanasi was considered to be the hub of knowledge and a place with nice school and colleges.

Mr Rai then attended Banaras Hindu University when he decided to get into medicine. In college days he came across people like Manoj Sinha (B.J.P M.P), Narendra Singh (Prof B.H.U) who later became his close friends. This was the time when politics drew some attention but the importance of becoming a bread winner for the family led him to find something to work. He started his career as a contractor and grew to become one of the Varanasi's renowned builders. His first project was "Kashiraj Apartments" which brought him to lime light and gave him the boost. There was no stopping after that; he completed several other colossal projects and became the pioneer of the field. During that phase he was accompanied by Mr. K.B Khare and Mr. K. Kapoor (other two renowned builders of Varanasi).

After several ventures Mr. Rai finally decided to give himself a break and do something that he pined. He kept his aspirations of becoming a politician and doing something for his people alive. Mr. Rai then represented Mohammadabad in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and became a key member of the Purvanchal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Besides, the fact that he belonged to the powerful Bhumihar Brahmin caste increased his influence in politics. He entered politics by contesting for the Mohammadabad Assembly seat in the 2002 elections and won it. His opponent was Afzal Ansari. He firmly believed that politics gives two kinds of powers, incentive power and coercive power. He found it a way to reward people.

Mr. Rai was brutally murdered on November 29, 2005 while he was visiting his family in his native village. He was a mass leader and the entire poorvanchal was brought to a standstill at his brutal murder. [cite news
url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1312975,prtpage-1.cms
title = MLA killing: Railway, power station attacked
publisher = The Times of India
date = 2005-11-30
accessdate = 2008-08-31] His opponents are held as the perpetrators of the sinister killing and are currently being tried by C.B.I. Mr. Rai is survived by two sons and wife who stay in Varanasi.

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