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UP polls: Let's look beyond Varanasi at other VIP constituencies

  Over the last few days Varanasi has been in the limelight for the Prime Minister’s roadshows and rallies spread over three days. It’s clearly the most high-profile VIP constituency today, given that Narendra Modi is a Member of Parliament from there. It wasn’t so in the five years that senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi represented it prior to 2014. Joshi had defeated Mukhtar Ansari in an intense and deeply polarised battle, but had to shift to Kanpur in 2014 after Modi decided to contest from there. If Varanasi is basking in its new-found profile, there are those in Uttar Pradesh that were once attention-grabbers but are today hardly mentioned. Phulpur, for example. Contiguous to Allahabad, it had been represented by Jawaharlal Nehru for three consecutive terms (1952-62). Then came heavyweights such as Vijaya Laxmi Pandit, Janeshwar Mishra and VP Singh. The Congress had an array of leaders then, but in 2014 the grand old party struggled to find a candidate and fielded cricketer Mohammed Kaif. He lost miserably, managing to get just a little over 59,000 votes; Keshav Prasad Maurya of the BJP romped home with more than five lakh votes. The Congress’s decline in the constituency effectively began after Nehru’s death; the few Congress leaders who won thereafter did so out of the voters’ sentimental attachment to Nehru and the Congress. But as the voter demographics changed over the years and caste and community polarisations strengthened with the rise of regional leaders, the Congress got left behind. Look at the facts: Since 1977, barring for four years (1984-89), the Congress has never won the Lok Sabha constituency. Ram Pujan Patel, the MP in this term, also shifted loyalty to VP Singh after the latter’s split from the Congress, and was re-elected from there. Besides that, the Samajwadi Party has won the seat on four occasions while the Bahujan Samaj Party was the winner for one term. It’s obvious that the Congress has lost the plot in Phulpur, perhaps for ever. That the Congress hasn’t managed to retain Nehru’s constituency, is a reflection of its decline in Uttar Pradesh. Equally interesting is the story in contiguous Allahabad. This had been Jawaharlal Nehru political karma bhoomi, and a prestige seat for the Congress. The Nehru ancestral home, Anand Bhavan (now Swaraj Bhavan) is situated in the heart of the town. Allahabad had been home to many developments of national importance during the freedom struggle the Congress led. It was Lal Bahadur Shastri’s political base too. The party kept winning here from 1952 right until 1971 without a hiatus, and then from 1980 to 1984. In 1984, of course, the constituency gained further star appeal when Amitabh Bachchan contested successfully. It was the centre of attraction in 1989 when a rebellious VP Singh took on the Congress and ground it to dust. Since then to date, the Congress has never won from Allahabad; it’s been either the BJP or the Samajwadi Party. In the 2014 Lok Sabha poll, its candidate finished fourth. The party has struggled to even find suitable names to contest, let alone get those of the stature of Lal Bahadur Shastri or HN Bahuguna. Incidentally, like VP Singh, Bahuguna too had dumped the Congress (in the immediate aftermath of the Emergency). He had teamed up with Jagjivan Ram and Charan Singh. He was arguably the last big leader for the Congress in Allahabad. Allahabad Lok Sabha constituency’s VIP status continued to dwindle thereafter. The changed demographics of the electorate and the post Mandal and mandir politics have further complicated the political mathematics. Even VP Singh, the darling of the constituency, had no courage to seek re-election from Allahabad after the Mandal issue, and sought a safer seat, Fatehpur. With no names of the like of Shastri or Bahuguna, the constituency, like neighbouring Phulpur, is now just another one of the 80 in Uttar Pradesh. In contrast, Varanasi had never been a high-profile constituency before 2014. The only national leader of any consideration to have contested from there was Congress stalwart Kamalapati Tripathi, back in 1980 — and Murli Manohar Joshi. And both, incidentally, Brahmins. This is relevant. The changed social equations have reflected in the selection of candidates. Barring such exceptions, since 1984, the constituency has been represented by non-Brahmin/non-Kshatriya candidates. But while the Congress has let go of Nehru’s constituency and his home town, it has retained two other Lok Sabha constituencies that the Nehru-Gandhi family is attached to: Rae Bareli and Amethi. The party’s First Family has been especially considerate here. Rae Bareli had been represented by Feroze Gandhi and Indira Gandhi. Party president Sonia Gandhi, no less, is the MP today. Barring for a couple of terms, the constituency has remained with the Congress since 1952. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who has consistently refused to campaign for the Congress throughout Uttar Pradesh, makes an exception here (and Amethi). Amethi too remains a VIP constituency, thanks to Rahul Gandhi. Like Rae Bareli, here too Congress candidates have by and large retained their hold. It was once represented by Sanjay Gandhi and then by Rajiv Gandhi. After Rajiv Gandhi’s death, it was handed over to Family loyalist Satish Sharma. From 2004 on, Rahul Gandhi has been representing it. It does appear that minus Amethi and Rae Bareli, there is nothing much for the Congress to look forward to in Uttar Pradesh. This is the last of the family silver it is left with in the State. (The writer is a senior political commentator and public affairs analyst) Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs and views expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this website are personal and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs and views of ABP News Network Pvt Ltd.
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