Once a political battle field of Bandit Queen of Chambal Phoolan Devi, who won the seat twice as Samajwadi Party nominee, and deadly dacoit Dadua’s brother, who won in 2009 on SP ticket, Mirzapur Lok Sabha constituency is witnessing a triangular contest in this elections where polling is scheduled for June 1.
Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry and Apna Dal ( Sonelal) president Anupriya Patel is pitted against the present BJP MP from Bhadohi & SP candidate Ramesh Bind, and Bahujan Samaj Party’s Manish Tiwari in this election.
Anupriya is trying to make a hat-trick from the seat after winning it in 2014 and 2019, riding on the Modi wave.
However this time she seems to be stuck in the caste maze.
After being denied ticket from the BJP, the SP has tried its best to stop Anupriya’s ” Vijayrath” by fielding sitting Bhadohi BJP MP Ramesh Bind from this seat. At the same time, the BSP has tried to corner Anupriya by fielding Brahmin face Manish Tiwari to tap the upper caste vote bank.
Experts feel that this time Anupriya’s victory is not as easy as it was in the earlier elections.
Mirzapur Lok Sabha constituency, known for Vindhyavasini temple, after separation from Bhadohi in 2009, turned to become Kurmi dominated and due to this, the caste equation here has been favourable for Apna Dal (Soneylal).
Keeping this equation in mind, the BJP had given Mirzapur seat to its ally Apna Dal (S) in 2014 and repeated it in 2019. But, this time the SP-Congress alliance has made the fight interesting by fielding a candidate from Bind caste. It is believed that Anupriya will have to work harder this time to break the caste cycle.
Candidates from both the parties are trying to defeat each other with the help of their respective castes, other backward and Dalit . However, the strength of the beneficiary class created due to the welfare schemes of the Central and State Governments may provide some edge to Anupriya.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have campaigned in favour of Anupriya while SP President Akhilesh Yadav too has addressed election meetings here.Therefore the election picture is almost clear. The election battle seems to be narrowing between Anupriya and Ramesh Bind. However, Anupriya is definitely facing some challenges due to BSP’s Manish Tiwari making a dent in the upper caste vote bank.
However, the mood of Dalit voters is not clear yet. If BSP is successful in pulling to their side, then the margin of victory and defeat may reduce for Anupriya. At the same time, the SP is also trying to convince and persuade them on the issue of ending reservation and the Constitution. If the SP is successful in its attempts, Anupriya’s challenges will increase further.
A new factor has also emerged in Mirzapur after Anupriya’s statement against Kunda MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya as the resentment of his supporters can also pose a challenge to Anupriya. There are also a good number of Kshatriya voters in this seat. Being a BJP cadre vote bank, Kshatriya has been with Anupriya in the last two elections, but due to the latest political statements, there is some resentment among them.
The issue of development is also hot in Mirzapur Lok Sabha constituency. While the ruling party is trying to convince the public by presenting various development figures, the opposition is raising the issue of the collapse of the famous pottery industry of carpet and brass of Chunar.
People engaged in Chunar’s pottery business alleged that no political party or leader has paid attention to the proper development of this place. Whatever small industries left, are on the verge of closure today.
Talking about the temperament of this seat, bandit beauty Phoolan Devi had won it twice on the SP symbol while dreaded dacoit Dadua’s brother Bal Kumar Patel also won the election once on the SP ticket only.
Since 1952, the Congress has won here seven times and SP four times. Whereas the BSP, the BJP and Apna Dal (S) have won twice each, Bharatiya Jan Sangh, Janata Party and Janata Dal have won once each.
In the 2022 assembly elections, the saffron flag was hoisted in Mirzapur Sadar, Chunar and Madihan. Whereas, Majhwan is in the account of Nishad Party and Chhanbe (reserved) seat was won by Apna Dal (S). Therefore, to change the electoral equation in its favour, Apna Dal (S) has to work less while the SP will have to strive harder.
Anupriya had won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by a margin of 2,32,008 votes by securing 53.34 percent vote share. Anupriya got 5,91,564 votes, while SP’s Ramcharitra Nishad bagged 3,59,556 votes. Whereas Lalitesh Pati Tripathi of Congress had to be content with only 91,501 votes.
In 2014 polls, Anupriya won by a margin of over 2.20 lakh votes over BSP’s Samudra Bind.
As per the caste calculation among the 18.97 lakh voters in the constituency , Dalit has the highest number of 4.80 lakh voters followed by 3.50 lakh Kurmis, 1.55 lakh Brahmins, 1.50 lakh Vaishyas, 85,000 Yadavs , 1.20 lakh Mauryas , 90,000 Kshatriyas and 1.45 lakh Binds.