With sitting MP Uma Bharti opting out of the contest and no party repeating its candidate, the battle in Jhansi Lok Sabha constituency became interesting with party identity playing a bigger role than that of the candidate.
BJP fielded Anurag Sharma, son of Pandit Vishwanath Mishr who was a member of Parliament twice - once from Jhansi as a Congress candidate and once from Hamirpur on BJP ticket - and heads the 'Bundelkhand Ekikaran Samiti' for the creation of separate Bundelkhand state. The Congress gave the ticket to Shiv Sharan Kushwaha, a prominent Kushwaha face. The SP-BSP-RLD alliance relied on Shyam Sundar Singh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) while the Pragatishil Samajwadi Party (Lohia) has decided to go with Jagat Vikram Singh Rajput from the Lodh community.
The constituency went to polls in the fourth phase of the general elections on April 29.
Election Results 2019: BJP's Anurag Sharma wins against SP's Shyam Sundar by 365683 votes. Anurag Sharma (BJP) - 809272 (58.61%), Shyam Sundar Singh (SP) - 443589 (32.12%), Shivsharan (Congress) - 86139 (6.24%).
Constituency profile
In Jhansi, part of Bundelkhand region which has faced 13 drought years since the turn of the century, the lack of water remains an issue among people but not in elections. Issues such as migration, irrigation, water scarcity and drought seemed to have taken a backseat in the election and caste, law & order played a major role in deciding a voter's electoral choices.
Of the 19 lakh voters in the constituency, around three lakh are either Kushwahas or Ahirwars, making them the dominant groups. They are followed by Muslims and Brahmins, having approximately 1.5 lakh voters each. The constituency has one lakh Yadav and Lodh voters besides a sizeable community of traders, including Jains.
Jhansi was a stronghold of the BJP in the 1990s. Its candidate Rajendra Agnihotri retained the seat for a decade before losing to Congress nominee Sujan Singh Bundela in 1999. The Samajwadi Party tasted its first victory in 2004 but the Congress wrested the seat back in 2009.
In 2014, BJP's firebrand leader Sadhvi Uma Bharti had won from here with a huge margin of 1.90 lakh votes. She polled around 43 per cent (5.75 lakh) of the votes.
Jhansi Lok Sabha constituency covers part of Jhansi and Lalitpur districts and is often referred as Jhansi-Lalitpur Lok Sabha seat. It comprises five Assembly segments - three from Jhansi district - Babina, Jhansi Nagar and Mauranipur - and two from Lalitpur - Mehroni and Lalitpur.
Lok Sabha Elections 2019: State Profile
In the last parliamentary elections in 2014, the BJP had won 71 seats in the state, securing 42.63 per cent of the votes. BJP ally Apna Dal bagged two more. The Samajwadi Party had won five seats with a vote share of 22.35 per cent. The BSP did not win any seat but secured 19.77 per cent votes. The Congress registered wins on two UP seats in 2014, bagging 7.53 per cent of the votes.
UP is facing a triangular battle between the BJP, the Congress and BSP-SP-RLD alliance. Under the alliance's seat-sharing formula, the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is contesting on 38 Lok Sabha seats of the total 80 seats, Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party on 37 seats and the Chaudhary Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) on three seats. The alliance has left two for Congress' Sonia Gandhi (Rae Bareli) and Rahul Gandhi (Amethi).
