Lucknow: Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP candidate from Lucknow, filed his nomination in the Lok Sabha elections 2024. He is contesting for the third time from Lucknow parliamentary seat, considered a stronghold of BJP. BJP has been continuously occupying this seat since 1991. Lok Sabha elections 2024 voting will be held in Lucknow on May 20 in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections. The last day for nomination is May 3.
In the general elections held in 1991 for the 10th Lok Sabha elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Atal Bihari Vajpayee defeated Ranjit Singh of Congress. Atal ji got 194,886 (50.90%) votes. At the same time, the Congress candidate got 77583 (20.26%) votes. Atal ji won the election by a margin of 1 lakh 17 thousand 303 votes. After this victory, Atal Ji did not look back and won the elections of 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004.
The special thing is that Atal Ji kept increasing the margin of victory in every election. In the 1996 elections, Atal Ji defeated Samajwadi Party (SP) cine star Raj Babbar. In the 1998 elections, he defeated SP candidate, famous film director Muzaffar Ali. In the 1999 and 2004 elections, Atal Ji defeated Congress’s Raja Karan Singh and SP’s Dr. Madhu Gupta respectively. After 2004, Atal Ji distanced himself from active politics due to health reasons.
After Atal Bihari Vajpayee distanced himself from active politics, Atal Ji’s close associate and former minister Lal Ji Tandon won the 2009 general elections from Lucknow seat. Tandon defeated Congress candidate Dr. Rita Bahuguna Joshi. In the 2014 general elections, former UP Chief Minister Rajnath Singh contested on a BJP ticket. Rajnath Singh defeated Congress candidate Dr. Rita Bahuguna Joshi by a margin of 2 lakh 72 thousand 749 votes.
In the 2019 general elections, Rajnath Singh contested on a BJP ticket for the second time. He was pitted against SP’s Poonam Shatrughan Sinha and Congress’ Acharya Pramod Krishnan. Janath Singh defeated SP candidate Poonam Shatrughan Sinha by a margin of 3 lakh 47 thousand 302 votes. Rajnath Singh got 633,026 (56.64%) and Poonam Sinha got 285,724 (23.57%) votes. The Congress candidate came third with 180,011 (16.11%) votes.
In the general elections for the 18th Lok Sabha, BJP has fielded Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh for the third time. Rajnath Singh has entered the fray for BJP’s ninth victory from Lucknow seat. With this victory, his victory will also be a hat-trick. SP has expressed confidence in MLA Ravidas Mehrotra and made him its candidate. At the same time, BSP has made Sarwar Malik its candidate.
Talking about the history of Lucknow parliamentary seat, BJP has won here eight times in the 17 parliamentary elections held so far on this seat. Atal ji has the distinction of becoming an MP from this seat 5 times in a row. At the same time, Congress’s Sheila Kaul (in the 1980 and 1984 elections) and BJP’s Rajnath Singh have become MPs from here 2 times each. Independent candidate Anand Narayan Mulla has won this seat only once in the 1967 elections.
