Battle of legacies in Allahabad Lok Sabha seat
Battle of legacies in Allahabad Lok Sabha seat
Once known as Oxford of East, Allahabad Lok Sabha seat is witnessing a battle of legacies — sons of two prominent leaders are in a straight contest, testing their fathers’ political credibility.
Traditionally a Congress stronghold, Allahabad Lok Sabha seat which was represented by former Prime Ministers Lal Bahadur Shastri and VP Singh, and had also witnessed stalwarts like Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, Janeshwar Mishra, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi and even Millennium Star Amitabh Bachchan as its representatives.
The grand-old Congress had won seven of the eight polls held here between 1952 and 1984. However, the BJP has turned the tide in its favour, emerging victorious in five of the last seven elections.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls where polling will be held on May 25, the battle for Allahabad seat involves two fresh faces in a direct face-off. While the BJP has fielded debutant Neeraj Tripathi, the Congress has placed its bet on Ujjwal Raman Singh, a former two-time SP MLA.
The BJP has dropped their sitting MP Rita Bahuguna Joshi and has gone for Neeraj Tripathi in this election. A lawyer by profession and a former additional advocate general of UP, Neeraj is the son of former BJP assembly speaker and West Bengal governor late Kesri Nath Tripathi. The present Lok Sabha election is his first foray into active politics.
The Congress, on the other hand, has opted for an experienced candidate. Ujjwal Raman Singh, a former two-time SP MLA from Karachana assembly seat and former UP minister. He is the son of senior SP leader Kunwar Rewati Raman Singh, an eight-time MLA from Karachhana and a two-term MP from Allahabad (2004 and 2009). Rewati Raman Singh had defeated BJP’s Dr Murli Manohar Joshi in 2009 polls.
Ujjwal won the 2004 and 2017 state assembly elections as a member of SP. However, he left the SP with the blessings of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and joined the Congress , days before being announced as their parliamentary candidate.
The BSP has fielded a newbie Ramesh Kumar Patel, resident of gram panchayat Chitauri of Jasra Block in Prayagraj. He works as a contractor in district panchayat and PWD and has not been very active in politics. He has been the state vice-president of the All-India Kurmi Kshatriya Mahasabha. Through him, the BSP is believed to be eying the substantial Patel and backward votes in the region.
The Allahabad Parliamentary constituency has five assembly seats under it with the only urban assembly constituency being Allahabad South and the remaining four of Karachhana, Meja, Bara and Koraon falling in rural areas of the trans-Yamuna region of the district.
Brahmin and Backward caste voters play a dominant role in the Allahabad parliamentary seat .The former accounts for around 5 lakh voters while the voters of backward communities are totalled at 6.5 lakh with Patels (Kurmis) numbering around 3 lakh. Prajapati and Pals account for 1.21 lakh, Nishad/Mallahs numbering 2 lakh and Yadavs accounting for 40,000 voters.
These are followed by one lakh Muslim voters, Bhumihars numbering at 50,000, Kayastha at 70,000, Kols at 1.5 lakh besides Musahar and Pasi voters tallying at 2 lakh, Banias at 50,000 and others being around 45,000 of the total of over 18 lakh votes.
The major issues for voters centre around employment generation and better support to farmers. Voters demand revival of factories in Naini industrial area with full capacity and setting up of new industries so as to stop migration of youths to states like Gujarat and Maharashtra due to unemployment.
In 2014, BJP’s Shyama Charan Gupta had won the seat while in 2019, it was Rita Bahuguna Joshi winning it for the saffron party.