[2] He passed his Junior and Senior Cambridge exams at the age of 13, and 16, respectively, and received an LLB degree with honors from the University of London.
One early prominent position he held was Vice President of the Civil Service Administration in 1949.
While a civil servant, he promoted the then PPP leader, Cheddi Jagan, as a candidate for the 1947 General Election.
Rai’s party, however, could not penetrate the market share of the established parties—PPP, PNC, and UF.
On the human-rights side, he ordered the police to step down from their aggressive policy of shooting people perceived as creating disturbances during the Black Friday Riot incident of 16 February 1962.