E-Paper
UP Polls: Some seats in Prayagraj have always remained unwinnable for some parties
Polls may take place every five years and sometimes even earlier, but for these political parties, their fate on these seats of Prayagraj region have remained unchanged.
In the long and rich political history of Prayagraj region, some of the 22 assembly constituencies have continued to remain unwinnable for certain political parties despite all efforts. even during a wave in their favour. Polls may take place every five years and sometimes even earlier, but for these political parties, their fate on these seats of Prayagraj region have remained unchanged.
If Pratappur and Karchana seats of Prayagraj district have eluded BJP even during the height of the 1991 Ram Mandir and 2017 Nadrendra Modi waves, the seat of Allahabad North of Prayagraj has remained out of reach for SP and BSP with neither ever managing to win from here. Interestingly, such seats exist even in neighbouring Pratapagrh and Kaushambi districts that form the Prayagraj region, according to political analyst and former vice-chancellor of Uttar Pradesh Rajarshi Tandon Open University (UPRTOU) Prof MP Dubey.
Election Commission of India records show that in the 1991 polls, Pratappur seat saw Janata Dal’s Vikram Jeet Maurya emerge as winner, with BJP’s Satya Lal Maurya trailing a distant fifth. In the 1996 elections, Pratappur seat saw BJP’s Devraj Singh putting up a fight against SP’s Jokhulal Yadav, but the BJP candidate had to remain content with second position. Even in 2007, SP’s Jokhulal Yadav won the seat in a direct fight with BSP’s Sayeed Ahmed, with Shyam Surat Upadhyay of Congress and Apna Dal candidate Shyamlal Pal standing third and fourth respectively.
In the 2017 elections, the BJP had given this seat to its ally Apna Dal (S) under the alliance agreement. But the candidate Karan Singh ended up losing to BSP’s Mohd Mujtaba Siddiqui (now in SP and in fray from Phulpur seat)
Similarly, BJP’s account could never open in Karchana. From 1996 to 2012, there was a face-to-face contest between the SP and BSP on this seat. In 2012, Deepal Patel of BSP won the seat with SP’s Ujjwal Raman Singh ending up as runner-up, while BJP’s Anamika Chaudhary stood fourth.
In 2017, BJP candidate Piyush Ranjan Nishad did put up a fight against SP’s Ujjwal Raman Singh but lost by more than 15,000 votes.
Similarly, the Allahabad North assembly seat remains an inexplicable puzzle for SP and BSP. Harshvardhan Bajpai, who was a BSP candidate in the 2007 and 2012 elections, had to be content with second position both the times but won the seat in 2017, albeit on a BJP ticket.
In the neighbouring district of Pratapgarh also, some seats have remained unattainable for certain parties. Bahujan Samaj Party has never got success from Rampur Khas, Kunda, Patti and Babaganj seats even as the Samajwadi Party candidate has never won in Rampur Khas, Kunda and Babaganj seats. Similarly, the SP candidate has never won in Kaushambi’s Chail and Manjhanpur seats.
