Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh): Gorakhpur being a VIP Lok Sabha seat of Uttar Pradesh has been dominant seat for the BJP. However, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress have pulled up their socks and is giving them a strong competition.
While the SP has fielded Kajal Nishad, an actress in Bhojpuri films, the BJP has given the ticket to its MP Ravi Kishan, who too hails from a film background. Now, it is to be determined whether the SP candidate will be able to break the stronghold of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Kajal hails from the Nishad community which is considered to have a huge impact on the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat. This is the reason why SP fielded her on this seat for the eighth time. The SP emerged victorious for the first time in winning the Gorakhpur seat in the 2018 by-election. After the win, Adityanath resigned from Parliament membership as he was sworn in as the CM.
If there had not been a rift in the BJP regarding the then candidate, the SP would not have been able to win this seat from the BJP. However, the District Presidents of both the parties clearly opine that history will be repeated in Gorakhpur this election.
MPs till now on Gorakhpur seat: In 1952 Dashrath Prasad Dwivedi (Congress), 1957 Singhasan Singh (Congress), 1962 Singhasan Singh Congress, Mahant Digvijay Nath Hindu Mahasabha in 1967 1971 Narsingh Narayan Pandey (Congress), 1977 Harikesh Bahadur (Bharatiya Lok Dal), 1980 Harikesh Bahadur (Congress), 1984 Madan Pandey (Congress), 1989 Mahant Avedyanath (BJP), 1991 Mahant Avedyanath (BJP), 1996 Mahant Avedyanath (BJP), 1998 Yogi Adityanath (BJP), 1999 Yogi Adityanath (BJP), 2004 Yogi Adityanath (BJP), 2009 Yogi Adityanath (BJP), 2014 Yogi Adityanath (BJP), 2018 Praveen Nishad SP (by-election), 2019 Ravi Kishan Shukla (BJP).
Speaking about the caste equation in Gorakhpur seat, the backward class voters are in the highest number here, out of which Nishad caste voters occupy a huge percentage. As many as four lakhs, while the number of Yadavs and Dalits is also around two lakhs each.
The number of Muslim voters is more than 1.5 lakh. Apart from this, there are three lakh Brahmin and Thakur voters. The number of Bhumihar and Vaishya votes is also close to 1.5 lakh.
Ahead of the 2019 elections, elections were fought on the dominant issues of Hindutva and Gorakhnath Temple and majorly revolved around the charisma of Adityanath. However, with the 2019 elections, development also became a major issue here.
The CM Yogi-led government himself turned the developmental issues in Gorakhpur city and surrounding areas a huge deal with the opposition party having no clarity about it.
The total number of voters in the Gorakhpur seat is 20,82,237 with 11,16,27 males, 9,66,210 females and 174 transgender voters. As many as 23,790 voters are aged between 18 to 19 years. This time, 65,000 new voters will be part of the election.
Bhojpuri actor Manoj Tiwari in 2009 and currently MP and BJP candidate Ravi Kishan are parachute candidates in the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat as they have no relation with Gorakhpur.
Only the SP has nominated its bet on female candidates twice in the Gorakhpur parliamentary seat. Rajmati Nishad was the SP candidate in the 2014 elections, while Kajal Nishad is contesting as the SP candidate in the 2024 elections.
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