We are in the last leg of the general elections and May 19 will see the action in Uttar Pradesh shift to big battlegrounds like Varanasi and Gorakhpur. Other seats to watch out for include Ballia and Kushinagar.
Ballia:
The region that is most famous for its scholars like Hazari Prasad Dwivedi and Bhairav Prasad Gupt, Ballia covers the assembly segments of Ballia Nagar, Bairia, Phephana, Zahoorabad and Mohammedabad. According to census data, 6.59 per cent of the population of Ballia district are Muslims, 15.3 per cent belong to Scheduled Castes and 3.4 belong to Scheduled Tribes. The key castes here are the Jatvas and Dusadhs, while Gonds form a bulk of the tribal community. The region has seen communal tension in October 2017.
This is also the constituency of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar who won from here eight times. His son Neeraj also won twice on the Samajwadi Party ticket, but in 2014 BJP’s Bharat Singh won the seat. This time the BJP has fielded Virendra Singh Mast against SP’s Sanatan Pandey. Santosh Pratap Singh is the CPI candidate while the INC is not contesting from this seat.
Gorakhpur:
Gorakhpur is sadly associated most with a crumbling public health infrastructure that was highlighted when an oxygen cylinder shortage led to the deaths of nearly 70 children, many of them infants and toddlers. This has also been an Encephalitis hub and according to one report the disease has claimed the lives of 25,000 children over four decades. Though the state government has claimed that the numbers have declined significantly, the Congress has accused the Adityanath administration of hiding real data.
The caste equation is very significant in this constituency with Yadavs, Nishads, Dalits, Brahmins, Kayasthas, Thakurs, Pasis and Beldars. Also, according to census data 20.6 per cent of the population are Muslims.
This is the constituency from where Chief Minister Adityanath has been elected MP five times. But Praveen Kumar Nishad, son of Dr Sanjay Nishad founder of the Nishad Party, won the seat on a Samajwadi Party ticket in the 2918 by-election. However, in April 2019, he switched allegiance to the BJP! The BJP, however, have fielded actor Ravi Kishan against Samajwadi Party’s Ram Bhau Nishad. INC’s Madhusudan Tripathi and CPI’s Dr Ashish Singh.
Kushinagar:
Created as a part of delimitation in 2008, Kushinagar parliamentary constituency covers the assembly segments of Khadda, Padruana, Hata, Ramkola and Kushinagar. This is a diverse district with 17.4 per cent of the population identifying as Muslim according to census data, while in the Kushi Nagar city area this figure is higher at 27.46 per cent. Also, while 5 per cent of the people belong to Scheduled Castes, 2.4 per cent belong to Scheduled Tribes such as Gond. This region has seen communal tensions in October 2016.
The economy ground to a standstill when the last of the sugar mills shut down. Local farmers have no place to sell their produce and this is one of the key issues in this predominantly agrarian constituency.
While the INC’s Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh won in 2009, in 2014 the seat was won by the BJP’s Rajesh Pandey. But this time the BJP have fielded Vijay Kumar Dubey against INC’s RPN Singh an erstwhile royal, while the SP candidate is Nathani Prasad Kushawa.
Varanasi:
The biggest battleground this election season, this is the constituency of PM Narendra Modi. Until recently, he faced his greatest challenge from former BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav whose nomination was rejected at the last minute due to a technicality. He now faces challenge from INC’s Ajay Rai and SP’s Shalini Yadav.
Varanasi is famous as a heritage tourist destination where lakhs of people throng its temples and ghats every year. Economy wise it is famous for its woven handlooms and embroidered textiles. But of late small and medium enterprises have suffered the twin blows of Modi’s own economic blunders; demonetisation and GST. There is widespread unemployment and even people’s homes have not been spared as many have been torn down for the Kashi Corridore project, robbing the city describes as “older than time” by Mark Twain of its quaint winding bylanes.
According to census data, 14.88 per cent of the population is Muslim and 13.2 per cent belong to Scheduled Castes. Prominent castes include Yadavs, Dalits, Brahmins, Bhumihars and Kayasthas.