2024 Lok Sabha Elections: Speculations are rife that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may contest 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Phulpur constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Reports are doing the rounds that Janata Dal United - JD(U) leaders from Uttar Pradesh have suggested Nitish Kumar to contest next year's general elections from Phulpur seat.
Cabinet minister of Bihar government and JD(U)'s in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, Sharwan Kumar said that some party leaders from UP were wishing that Nitish Kumar contest Lok Sabha polls from Phulpur.
Besides Phulpur, the JD(U) leaders also suggested that Kumar should contest from Ambedkar Nagar, Pratapgarh or Fatehpur Lok Sabha constituencies as well. Sharwan Kumar, however, also said that Nitish Kumar himself has rebuffed this suggestion.
Nitish Kumar's rebuffs suggestions
“The news coming into public domain that Nitish Kumar may contest Lok Sabha poll from Uttar Pradesh is absolutely false. Party has not decided yet and there is no preparation for Nitish Kumar to contest election from Uttar Pradesh. Some JD(U) leaders of Uttar Pradesh demanded that Nitish Kumar contest election from Phulpur, Ambedkarnagar, Pratapgarh or Fatehpur,” Sharwan Kumar said.
How caste factor may help Nitish in Phulpur if he decides to contest
Phulpur Lok Sabha seat also called 'Phoolpur', is one of the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. The constituency falls under Prayagraj district.
The constituency holds historical importance as two Indian Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and VP Singh have been elected from this constituency. In fact, India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru died in office in 1964 while holding this seat. The seat is also called "Nehru's constituency".
There are approximately 19.75 lakh total voters in Phulpur and around 4 lakh voters belong to Kurmi caste. If Nitish Kumar wants to contest from Phulpur, the Kurmi voters may polarize in favour of him.
Phulpur constituency past results
| Year | Candidate Name | Party |
| 1952 | Jawaharlal Nehru | Indian National Congress |
| Masuriya Din | ||
| 1957 | Jawaharlal Nehru | |
| Masuriya Din | ||
| 1962 | Jawaharlal Nehru | |
| 1964 | Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit | |
| 1967 | ||
| 1969 | Janeshwar Mishra | Samyukta Socialist Party |
| 1971 | Vishwanath Pratap Singh | Indian National Congress |
| 1977 | Kamala Bahuguna | Janata Party |
| 1980 | B. D. Singh | Janata Party |
| 1984 | Ram Pujan Patel | Indian National Congress |
| 1989 | Janata Dal | |
| 1991 | ||
| 1996 | Jang Bahadur Patel | Samajwadi Party |
| 1998 | ||
| 1999 | Dharmraj Patel | |
| 2004 | Atique Ahmed | |
| 2009 | Kapil Muni Karwariya | Bahujan Samaj Party |
| 2014 | Keshav Prasad Maurya | BJP |
| 2018 | Nagendra Pratap Patel | Samajwadi Party |
| 2019 | Keshari Devi Patel | BJP |
Demographics | 25,27,766 population
- Rural: 64.44 per cent
- Urban: 35.56 per cent
- SC: 21.85 per cent
- ST: 0.06 per cent
Nitish will fail if he tries to go to Delhi via UP, says BJP
Reacting on the matter, the BJP said that he has failed in his home state and will not succeed in Uttar Pradesh also.
BJP leaders sharply reacted to this. Arvind Kumar Singh, the senior leader of JD(U) said: “Nitish Kumar can either contest from Bihar or any other part of Uttar Pradesh, in any case he will not win the election. I challenge him that he will not obtain even 11 votes from Phulpur. He is dreaming about going to Delhi through Uttar Pradesh and this will not work for him. He will fail miserably.”
“Nitish Kumar Ji is sitting in the lap of Lalu Prasad Yadav in Bihar and if he contests the election from Uttar Pradesh, he will sit in the lap of Akhilesh Yadav. In both the cases, BJP would not get affected. Nitish Kumar always does dependence politics. In Bihar, he is dependent on the RJD and he is trying to reach Delhi via UP with the help of Akhilesh Yadav,” said Nikhil Anand, BJP national general secretary of OBC wing and state spokesperson.
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