The Lucknow parliamentary constituency, which went to the polls on Monday, has witnessed contests between stalwarts and political lightweights over the years.
Union home minister Rajnath Singh, who is seeking re-election from this prestigious seat, is pitted against Samajwadi Party’s Poonam Sinha, wife of actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha (who recently switched from the Bharatiya Janata Party to the Congress) and Congress’ Acharya Pramod Krishnam.
Lucknow, which was one among the 14 Lok Sabha seats that went to polls in the fifth phase of the ongoing general election, saw a turnout of 54.29%. The BJP has never lost an election from this seat since 1991. Singh, himself won this seat in 2014.
The Samajwadi Party is in alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal in the state, which sends the maximum number of members , 80, to Lok Sabha.
However, the seat has a history of seeing political heavyweights from the saffron party win from here for well over three decades.
It began with the astounding victory of former prime minister, the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee of the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1991. For five consecutive Lok Sabha elections since 1991, candidates from varied backgrounds, including Raj Babbar (then a SP candidate, now the Congress hopeful from Fatehpur Sikri), who challenged Vajpayee in 1996, and noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani, who contested as an Independent in 2004.
In 2014, Singh defeated Congress leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi — she is now a BJP candidate from Allahabad, which polls on May 12. This time around, Singh was up against Acharya Pramod Krishnam, who was the Congress’ candidate. Krishnam runs an ashram in Sambhal.
{{/usCountry}}In 2014, Singh defeated Congress leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi — she is now a BJP candidate from Allahabad, which polls on May 12. This time around, Singh was up against Acharya Pramod Krishnam, who was the Congress’ candidate. Krishnam runs an ashram in Sambhal.
{{/usCountry}}Prof (retd) SK Dwivedi, former head of political science department, Lucknow University, said, “It is a one-sided contest in Lucknow. There is no strong contender to challenge BJP’s Rajnath Singh. Nobody in Lucknow knows Poonam Sinha and Pramod Krishnam. The result is obvious.”