Muslims dominate Rampur Lok Sabha seat, BJP has won only thrice so far, interesting this time

By-election in Rampur Lok Sabha seat of Uttar Pradesh (Rampur Lok Sabha Bypoll) date is now near. Rampur district has been identified with the Rampuri knife and is currently known because of Azam Khan. After independence, in the Lok Sabha elections held for the first time in 1952, the country’s first Education Minister Abul Kalam Azad had won from Rampur Lok Sabha seat. Rampur is a Muslim-majority seat, there are around 55 percent Muslim voters, so out of 17 elections so far, only 12 Muslim candidates have won. Hindu candidates have won elections only 5 times. The contest for the Rampur Lok Sabha seat by-election in 2022 is very interesting because this time the two main parties, SP and BJP, are in the fray. Azam Khan’s reputation is at stake in the by-elections for Rampur Lok Sabha seat and on the other hand, that of BJP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. BJP has declared Ghanshyam Lodhi as its candidate from Rampur who was once close to Azam Khan. At the same time, SP has declared Azam Khan’s special Asim Raza as the candidate.

Hindu candidate has won only 5 times so far

Rampur Lok Sabha seat of Uttar Pradesh has now become an important seat for BJP. Most of the Muslim candidates have won this seat. Whereas only 3 times BJP candidates have won elections from here. Rampur has the largest number of Muslim voters in terms of caste equation. After that Lodhi has the largest voter turnout. For this reason, BJP has declared Ghanshyam Lodhi as its candidate in the by-elections to be held in 2022.

In Rampur seat so far only 5 elections have been won by Hindu candidates. For the first time in the elections held in 1977, Lok Dal candidate Rajendra Kumar Sharma won, second time Rajendra Kumar Sharma won on BJP ticket in 1991 during Ram Mandir wave. After this, Jaya Prada won on SP ticket in 2004 and 2009. In 2014, BJP candidate Dr. Nepal Singh won due to Modi wave.

Why did BJP win 3 times in Rampur?

BJP has won the Rampur Lok Sabha seat thrice so far. However, the victory of BJP in Rampur is not less than a big surprise. There are around 55 percent Muslim voters in Rampur and only 43 percent Hindu voters. Despite this, the victory of the BJP candidate was definitely due to the division of Muslim votes. This happened in the Rampur Lok Sabha elections in 1991, 1998 and 2014. Whenever SP, BSP and Congress fielded Muslim candidates in Rampur elections, BJP got the benefit of it. There was a dent in the Muslim vote bank, while the Hindu vote bank benefited the BJP. As a result of this BJP won 3 times in Muslim dominated seat like Rampur.

Muslims won 12 times in Rampur

In 2019, Mohammad Azam Khan was elected MP from Rampur Lok Sabha seat of Uttar Pradesh. He defeated BJP candidate Jaya Prada by more than one lakh votes. At the same time, after winning the assembly elections from Rampur Sadar in 2022, Azam Khan resigned from the membership of Parliament, due to which by-elections are being held in this seat. Congress and BSP have not fielded their candidates in the by-elections. While Azam Khan’s special Asif Raza is the candidate from SP, BJP has declared Ghanshyam Lodhi as its candidate. So far 12 Muslim candidates have won from Rampur Lok Sabha seat.

Congress’s hand empty in Rampur for 22 years

From 1952 to 1971, Congress candidates have won the Rampur Lok Sabha seat continuously. For the first time in the period of Emergency, in 1977, the Bharatiya Lok Dal won from here, and later in the elections held in 1980, the Congress won the Rampur seat again. Zulfikar alias Mikki Mian from the Nawab family has been an MP from Rampur seat for a total of 5 times. First of all, Mickey Mian won as a Congress candidate in 1967.

After this, he has won in 1971 and again in 1980, 1984 and 1989. In 1996, Congress candidate Begum Noor Bano won. She lost to BJP candidate Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in ​​the 1998 elections. But the next year in 1999, Begum Noor Bano was elected MP. He completed his revenge by defeating Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. However, after this, no Congress candidate could register victory in Rampur.