Mathura: Mathura Lok Sabha elections have been dominated by the BJP, except in the 2004 and 2009 elections, when Congress’s Manvendra Singh and RLD’s Jayant Chaudhary won the seat. Hema Malini has now won the seat twice in a row and is hoping to make a hat-trick in 2024.
The Congress, which last won the Mathura Lok Sabha seat in 2004, is hoping to regain the constituency by pitting its celebrity against BJP’s Hema Malini. If sources are to be believed, Congress is preparing to field boxer Vijender Singh from Mathura. Mathura, where the voter base is dominated by Jats, has been won by the Congress only five times since elections were held in 1951-52.
This seat has been a stronghold of the BJP since the party’s victory in 1991 under the leadership of Sakshi Maharaj.
Mathura Lok Sabha elections have been dominated by the BJP, except in the 2004 and 2009 elections, when Congress’s Manvendra Singh and RLD’s Jayant Chaudhary won the seat. Hema Malini has now won the seat twice in a row and is hoping to make a hat-trick in 2024.
Consolidating Jat votes was a matter of concern for the BJP as Hema Malini was initially an outsider. RLD chief Jayant Choudhary, who had earlier vowed never to join the BJP, was a problem area for the saffron party as he threatened to snatch away the Jat votes.
However, now that Jayant Chaudhary is in the NDA, and Hema Malini has managed to strengthen her image as a ‘Jat bahu’ due to her marriage to Sikh Jat actor Dharmendra Deol, the BJP now looks to be a formidable force. The Congress is now hoping to get Jat votes with Vijender, who belongs to the community. However, Olympic medalist boxer Vijender Singh, who entered politics by joining the Congress party before the 2019 elections, had talked about leaving politics. The boxer informed of his decision in a post on X (formerly Twitter). He had written politics as Ram Ram Bhai.
Vijender was anyway away from the political limelight for a long time and was last seen prominently during Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. He had also visited Jantar Mantar during the wrestlers’ protest against BJP MP and former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Singh. Congress had also fielded Vijender Singh from the South Delhi constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Priyanka Gandhi had also campaigned for him. However, Boxer lost the election but remained associated with the party. He has now decided to say ‘goodbye’ to politics.
