Samajwadi Party faces tough challenge against BJP in Azamgarh; eyes to regain its bastion

AZAMGARH: The Azamgarh Lok Sabha Constituency in Uttar Pradesh is gearing up for a high-stakes battle between Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Bhojpuri actor Dinesh Lal Yadav 'Nirahua' and Samajwadi Party candidate Dharmendra Yadav.

Azamgarh is all set to face a repeat of the same contest, with the two Yadavs in the fray again fighting it out for this coveted seat of Uttar Pradesh.

The Azamgarh Lok Sabha constituency, one of the 80 parliamentary constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, falls under the General category. Azamgarh constituency comprises five Legislative Assembly segments: Gopalpur, Sagri, Mubarakpur, Azamgarh, and Mehnagar (SC).

Uttar Pradesh, which sends the maximum number of MPs, 80, to Parliament, is voting in all seven phases. The voting in Azamgarh will take place in the sixth phase on May 25 and votes will be counted on June 4.

After Mainpuri and Kannauj, the Samajwadi Party had made Azamgarh as its bastion. Even SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav contested the election from here. Akhilesh too won the 2019 election, but the SP lost the bye-election to BJP when Dinesh Yadav won election from here

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Bhojpuri actor Dinesh Lal Yadav 'Nirahua' from the Azamgarh seat for the Lok Sabha elections. Dharmendra Yadav is Samajwadi Party candidate from the seat. The Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has fielded Mashood Ahmed from Azamgarh.

Dinesh Lal Yadav "Nirahua" is running for the third time, Nirahua, a celebrated Bhojpuri actor and singer, first won the MP seat by defeating Dharmendra Yadav in the 2022 by-election.

Dharmendra Yadav is contesting from the Samajwadi Party's stronghold of Azamgarh in the Lok Sabha elections.

Dharmendra Yadav contested the 2022 bypolls from Azamgarh but lost to BJP candidate Dinesh Lal Yadav 'Nirahua', a popular Bhojpuri singer-actor.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, Dharmendra Yadav won from the Badaun seat in Uttar Pradesh. Despite facing a BJP wave in 2014, Yadav managed to retain his seat defeating BJP's Vagish Pathak by over 1.6 lakh votes. He lost the seat in the 2019 polls, though.

In the bypolls held in 2022, Dharmendra Yadav contested from Azamgarh, but ended up on the losing side. BJP candidate Dinesh Lal Yadav 'Nirahua' managed to scrape through by a margin of just over 8,000 votes.

Yadav will once again face the Bhojpuri singer-actor in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

In 2019 Lok Sabha election, the Samajwadi Party candidate, Akhilesh Yadav, won the seat with 621,578 votes. BJP candidate, Dinesh Lal Yadav 'Nirahua', came in second with 361,704 votes, losing by a margin of 259,874 votes.

In 2022, Akhilesh Yadav stepped down as he had been elected as an MLA from the Karhal constituency in Mainpuri district.

In the 2014 elections, Mulayam Singh Yadav from the SP won the seat with 340,306 votes. His closest competitor, BJP candidate Ramakant Yadav, secured 277,102 votes, resulting in a defeat by 63,204 votes.

Prime minister Narendra Modi visited Azamgarh twice in the past two months and addressed public meetings.

Earlier on May 16, Prime Minister Narendra Modi berated the Opposition for allegedly trying to push the country towards riots by spreading lies about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also asserted that whenever a terrorist incident took place in the country its links were established with Azamgarh and the district was defamed.

"However, those who defamed Azamgarh stand completely exposed today," CM Yogi said.

As per the seat agreement between the Samajwadi Party and Congress in Uttar Pradesh, Congress is contesting on 17 seats and the Samajwadi Party has the remaining 63 seats in the electorally crucial state.

As of now, voting has been completed up to the fifth phase. The sixth phase, covering 14 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, is scheduled to be held on May 25.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the winner by securing the majority of seats. Of 80 seats, the BJP won 62, followed by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) with 10 seats, the Samajwadi Party (SP) with 5 seats, and the Apna Dal with 2 seats.

In the 2014 elections, the BJP in Uttar Pradesh won71 seats, while the Congress managed to only win two seats.

The election for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases starting April 19. The counting of the votes will be held on June 4.