Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency, one of the prestigious seats of Purvanchal in the 7th phase of polls in Uttar Pradesh, is witnessing a direct contest between two Bhojpuri actors where Gorakshnath Peeth has the ultimate say in the election results.
Bhojpuri actor and BJP candidate Ravindra Kishan Shukla, popularly known as Ravi Kishan Shukla, riding on the Modi – Yogi wave along with all support of the Gorakshnath Peeth, is fighting to retain the seat for the second time in a row.
However this time, INDI alliance and Samajwadi Party candidate Kajal Nishad, also a Bhojpuri actor, is trying to challenge the Yogi power in the constituency.
The BSP has fielded Muslim candidate Javed Ashraf, whose impact is expected to be minimal in this election.
Gorakhpur, the home district of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, is developing as the NCR of the East, and has had the influence of Gorakshnath Peeth for the past 35 years.
Whatever may be the wave, it has always been for Gorakshnath Peeth. At the same time, the caste equation has always been at the central point of the politics of opposition parties.
Chief Minister Adityanath has been MP from Gorakhpur seat 5 times and Ravi Kishan Shukla became the lawmaker from Gorakhpur for the first time in 2019.
There are more than 4 lakh Nishad voters in Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat and SP has been betting only on Nishad candidates.
Political experts believe that BJP’s hold on this saffron bastion seat is so strong that only a miracle can bring victory to the alliance. Most of the voters in Gorakhpur parliamentary seat are from backward classes. The number of Nishad voters is high here. After this, come Sainthwar, Yadav and other castes. There is also a considerable population of Brahmins and Muslims. Instead of playing a decisive role, Muslim voters are used here only to save the opponent’s security.
The backward classes of all the five assembly constituencies here – Gorakhpur Sadar, Rural, Sahjanwan, Campierganj and Pipraich have an emotional connection with Gorakshnath Peeth. The proof of this has come to light in many elections.
However, the alliance leaders are hopeful that they will gain an edge due to caste equations.
On the other hand , BSP has fielded candidates six times on Gorakhpur seat but finished runners up only once in 2009. The victory margin of BJP has always increased with the entry of BSP in the election fray.
If the statistics of parliamentary elections of Gorakhpur seat is seen, Congress was dominant here six times in the eight elections held till 1984. Congress had to lose this seat only twice — in 1967, from the then Mahant Digvijaynath of Gorakshnath Peeth and in 1977, from Janata Party candidate Harikesh Bahadur in the wave of protest against Emergency.
Ever since its success in the 1984 elections, the Congress has been longing for victory in this parliamentary constituency and after that even for saving its deposit. Since the last decade of the last century, Gorakshnath Peeth has dominated the Gorakhpur seat, which continues till now.
Later, in three elections from 1989 to 1996, the then Gorakshpeethadhishwar Mahant Avaidyanath and in five elections from 1998 to 2014, the present Peethadhishwar Yogi Adityanath was elected as their representative to Parliament. Before this, the then Mahant Digvijaynath had represented the Gorakhpur parliamentary constituency in 1967 and after his retirement in 1969, Mahant Avaidyanath had represented the parliamentary constituency.
During the Ram Mandir movement, Mahant Avaidyanath returned to politics in the 1989 elections and after that, the dominance of Gorakshnath Peeth in Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency started again. Mahant Avaidyanath had contested the 1989 elections as a candidate of Hindu Mahasabha, after that he and his disciple Yogi Adityanath continued to fight and win by joining the ranks of veteran BJP leaders
Talking about the last two Lok Sabha elections, BJP candidates kept winning on all the nine seats of Gorakhpur and Basti division due to the influence of the Gorakshnath Peeth.
After Yogi Adityanath became the Chief Minister in 2017, the face of Gorakshnath Peeth may not be visible on the parliamentary seat, but if the one-year by-election tenure is removed, then since 2019, the current MP Ravi Kishan will be serving as a representative of the Gorakshnath Peeth and a chairperson of the bench.
BJP candidate Ravi Kishan Shukla has admitted in public that he is a servant of Gorakshnath Peeth.
However, it is difficult to say how successful will be SP’s move to field a candidate from Nishad community as NISHAD Party, which claims to have rights over the votes of Nishad community, with Ravi Kishan being an ally of the BJP.
In the 2018 bypolls after Adityanath resigned to take up the CM’s post, a joint opposition candidate of NISHAD Party was the winner defeating the BJP candidate. But now the political scenario is totally different as the BJP has full advantage of the caste factor.
Candidates in fray:
Ravi Kishan Shukla- BJP:
He is famous across the country as an actor. In 2014, he contested his first election from Jaunpur on Congress ticket and lost. In 2019, he became MP by winning the election from Gorakhpur parliamentary seat by a margin of more than three lakh votes.
Kajal Nishad- SP:
This is the fourth election of Bhojpuri actress Kajal Nishad. She contested assembly elections from Gorakhpur Rural on Congress ticket and Campierganj from SP and lost in both the elections. She contested the Gorakhpur mayor’s election, but did not win.
Javed Ashraf- BSP:
The entire family is associated with the BSP. Javed has always remained active in the organization and had handled the responsibilities from divisional to zonal coordinator. He is contesting elections for the first time.