Mathura: The announcement of the Congress candidate for the Mathura Lok Sabha constituency, scheduled for polling on April 26 in the second phase, is still pending.
BJP has nominated Hema Malini, who has served two terms as the MP, for Mathura, while BSP has put forward Suresh Singh, a former IRS officer. This constituency falls under the INDIA alliance for Congress, which is contemplating fielding India’s Olympic medalist boxer Vijender Singh against Hema Malini. However, the final decision is pending approval.
Out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, Congress will be competing for 17 seats in alliance with the Samajwadi Party. In the second phase, elections will be held for nine Lok Sabha seats in the state, with Congress contesting in four of them.
The party has so far announced candidates for 13 out of the 17 seats. Apart from Mathura, candidates have yet to be announced for Prayagraj, Rae Bareli, and Amethi.
Mathura, situated in western Uttar Pradesh, holds significance as one of the most prominent constituencies in the state. BJP has once again placed its bet on the iconic figure of yesteryears, ‘Dream Girl’ Hema Malini, who is contesting for the third time.
In addition to Vijender Singh, other contenders for the seat include former minister and CLP leader Pradeep Mathur and Mahesh Pathak, who was the Congress candidate in 2019. There’s also speculation surrounding the names of Manvendra Singh, who won as an MP on a Congress ticket in 2004, and state general secretary Mukesh Dhangar.
For the Ghaziabad seat, Congress has announced Dolly Sharma, Ramnath Valmiki for Bulandshahr, and Kunwar Danish Ali for Amroha. These three seats will also go to polls in the second phase along with Mathura.
The Congress party faces a challenging situation in its strongholds of Amethi and Rae Bareli, previously represented by Sonia Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi’s defeat by Smriti Irani in Amethi in the 2019 elections, with a margin of about 50,000 votes, underscores this challenge.
Though there have been demands from Congress leaders for Rahul Gandhi to contest from Amethi and Priyanka Gandhi from Rae Bareli, the final decision rests with the Gandhi family.
Sanjay Gupta, a professor of Political Science at Lucknow University, noted that after Sonia Gandhi vacated the seat, it was expected that only members of the Gandhi family would contest from both constituencies. The delay in announcing candidates for Amethi and Rae Bareli could send the wrong message to the electorate, potentially impacting the election outcome significantly.
Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi emphasized that apart from Rae Bareli and Amethi, candidates have not been finalized for two other seats. “Candidates for all remaining seats will be announced shortly. The Gandhi family has a longstanding association with Rae Bareli and Amethi, and people desire their representation,” Awasthi stated.
It’s worth noting that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee once contested from this constituency.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP’s Hema Malini secured victory with a margin of 6,71,293 votes. RLD’s Kunwar Narendra Singh secured the second position with 3,77,822 votes, while Congress candidate Mahesh Pathak received only 28,084 votes.
In 2014, Hema Malini garnered 5,74,633 votes, followed by RLD’s Jayant Chaudhary with 2,43,890 votes, BSP’s Yogesh Kumar Dwivedi with 1,73,572 votes, and SP’s Chandan Singh with 36,673 votes.