While we all know that actor Amitabh Bachchan had won the Lok Sabha election from Allahabad in 1984 with a whopping margin, not many are aware that he still holds the record of having registered win with the biggest difference from the seat.
Be it former Prime Ministers Lal Bahadur Shastri or VP Singh or former UP chief minister Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna or Murli Manohar Joshi of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who got elected thrice from the seat, none have managed to even come close to the record of winning by a margin of 1,87,895 votes registered by Amitabh.
Even after 1984, Allahabad seat has witnessed 1 by-election and 8 parliamentary elections and no leader has been able to break this record. Till date the seat has witnessed 18 elections, including two by-elections, but the record set by Amitabh remains intact.
Till 2014, Amitabh even had the record of securing maximum number of votes — a whopping 2,97,461 votes — on this seat.
However, in 2014 the then BJP candidate Shyama Charan Gupta broke this record by securing 3,13,772 votes during the Narendra Modi wave.
{{/usCountry}}However, in 2014 the then BJP candidate Shyama Charan Gupta broke this record by securing 3,13,772 votes during the Narendra Modi wave.
{{/usCountry}}In the 1984 election, Amitabh had bagged 2,97,461 votes that was 68.21% of the total 4,36,120 votes. Veteran Bahuguna had polled second with 1,09.666 (25.15%) votes.
And this difference between the winner and the runners-up of a whopping 1,87,895, too, is a record that stands till date as mostly the seat has witnessed close fights and margin of wins being narrow.
How polarised the voting was in 1984 can be gauged from the fact that barring Amitabh and Bahuguna, all other 24 contestants could not even manage to bag 1% of the votes polled. In 1988, Murli Manohai Joshi had secured 2,65,222 votes which after Amitabh Bachchan remained the second highest count of votes bagged by a winner till 2014.
In 2004 SP’s Kunwar Reoti Raman Singh had defeated Joshi by a margin of 28,383 votes by bagging 2,34,008 votes. But this SP leader too, saw his votes coming down to 2,09,431 in 2009 polls. In 1957, former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri had won the seat by bagging 1,24,896 votes defeating his nearest rival Radhey Shyam Pathak by a margin of 56,032 votes. Radhey Shyam had garnered 68,864 votes.
In 1962 too, Lal Bahadur Shastri had managed to retain the seat by getting 1,37,324 votes while his nearest rival Ram Gopal Sand had managed 68,791 votes only.
Similarly, the 1977 polls witnessed Janeshwar Mishra securing 1,90,697 votes to defeat former PM VP Singh by a margin of 89,988 votes.
In 1980, VP Singh had managed to bag the seat by defeating Laxmi Bhushana Varshney. VP Singh had secured 1,53,062 votes (45.75 %) while Varshney had got 80.037 votes.
Only woman who managed to bag the seat was Saroj Dubey of Janata Dal in 1981.
She defeated Shyama Charan Gupta in a close contest by bagging 1,14,898 votes. Gupta had secured 1,09,702 votes.
IN BRIEF:
BIGGEST MARGIN:
Amitabh Bachchan defeated Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna by 1,87,895 votes in 1984 general elections.
NARROWEST MARGIN:
Saroj Dubey of Janata Dal defeated Shyama Charan Gupta 5,196 votes in 1991.
MAXIMUM VOTES:
BJP candidate Shyama Charan Gupta defeated SP’s Reoti Raman Singh by securing 3,13,772 votes during Modi wave in 2014.
Photo caption: File photo of Amitabh Bachchan campaigning on Allahabad streets in 1984.