Agra Lok Sabha elections 2024: In Agra, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has again fielded Union Minister SP Singh Baghel as its candidate. BJP is aiming for a hat trick in Agra.
In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP is working overtime to ensure a third consecutive win on more than two dozen seats that it had won in the 2014 and 2019 elections. The exercise is part of a larger strategy to win all 80 seats in the state. CM Yogi campaigned for the BJP candidate and Union Minister, Professor SP Singh Baghel.
Union Minister, Dr SP Singh Baghel, is seeking his second term from Agra which is a reserved seat. The SP has fielded Suresh Chandra Kadam from Agra while the BSP has named Pooja Amrohi as its candidate.
Dr Baghel faces the challenge of preventing a division of Dalit votes in his constituency so that he can win back the seat. However, he is banking on the BJP’s Hindu votes to compensate the depletion of Dalit votes, if any.
Samajawadi Party candidate
The Samajwadi Party (SP) has announced its candidate list for Agra and fielded Suresh Chandra Kadam to fight the Lok Sabha elections. Suresh Kadam is currently serving as Sardhana MLA.
Samajwadi Party’s Suresh Chandra Kardam, a footwear businessman by profession, stresses that this is not just an election but a fight to save the Constitution. Kardam, who claims to have support from all sections of society, is also eyeing the core Jatav vote bank and looks assured that the Muslims will also rally behind him.
Bahujan Samaj Party candidate
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati the second list of nine candidates in Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The party has named Pooja Amrohi its candidate from Agra.
BSP’s Pooja Amrohi, who also faces the narrative of being an outsider by critics, is now trying her best to ensure that the Dalit vote bank doesn't see any split in Agra, where the celebrations of Baba Saheb Ambedkar's birth anniversary are still far from over.
Amrohi, daughter of Congress loyalist Satya Behen also exudes confidence that the current political climate will turn in BSP’s favour in the seat.
Know more about Agra seat
This high-profile constituency, since independence, remained a bastion of the Congress for years. However, the political winds turned around during the Ram Mandir movement in the 1990s in this constituency of the Braj region, and the BJP made its inroads.
In 1999, the Samajwadi Party placed its bet on Raj Babbar. When the Bollywood star won from Agra in 1999 and 2004 on the SP ticket, it was the BJP that secured the Number 2 slot in Agra.
Since 2009, Agra's electorate has ensured that the BJP not only emerges victorious but also increases its margin of victory. The rise of the BJP in the city, known for the Taj Mahal and also called the Dalit Capital of Uttar Pradesh, has been notable.
Lok Sabha elections 2024
Notably, the Lok Sabha polls will be held in seven phases beginning April 19. Uttar Pradesh, which sends the maximum number of MPs, 80, to Parliament, will vote in all seven phases.
Voting for phases one and two will be held on April 19 and April 26. Next, the state will once again poll in phases three and four on May 7 and May 13. The Uttar Pradesh electorate will also vote in phases five, six and seven on May 20, May 23 and June 1, respectively.
The votes will be counted on June 4 (Tuesday).
