LUCKNOW: A small town in western Uttar Pradesh, Baghpat, is believed to be one among the five villages of the epic age that the Pandavas requested from Duryodhana to avoid the battle of Mahabharat.
Baghpat, which also houses the site Lakshagraha (a palace made of wax built to kill the Pandavas) at Barnanava in nearby Baraut, now basks in the glory of its epic age connection as the electioneering in the neighbouring Meerut Lok Sabha seat gains attention, following the entry of actor-turned-politician Arun Govil, who portrayed Ram in Ramanand Sagar’s television serial Ramayana, as the BJP candidate in the 2024 poll race.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath was the first to mention the Mahabharat connection of Baghpat when, along with Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary on April 5, 2024, he launched the election campaign of RLD leader Rajkumar Sangwan, who has been fielded as the candidate of the BJP-RLD alliance. The BJP denied a ticket to former Mumbai commissioner Satyapal Singh to pave the way for Sangwan.
A fierce political battle is expected on the seat as candidates from the BJP-RLD alliance (Rajkumar Sangwan), Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance (Amarpal Sharma), and the BSP (Praveen Bansal) are leaving no stone unturned in their election campaigns.
Known for its home furnishing products, Baghpat is situated in the agriculturally enriched western region of Uttar Pradesh. It has been a stronghold of Jat politics and has emerged as the epicenter of farm politics in recent years. Baghpat likely derives its name from ‘Vyaghraprastha’ (tiger city), owing to its historical population of tigers. However, political parties in their rallies are using a lesser-known name ‘Vakyaprastha’ (city of delivering speeches) as the word of origin for Baghpat.
Baghpat has traditionally been a bastion of the RLD’s first family, represented by RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary’s grandfather and former Prime Minister late Chaudhary Charan, who was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna last month, served as the first non-Congress Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He held the top political office of the state twice, in 1967-1968 and 1970. He scored three consecutive wins from the Baghpat Lok Sabha constituency in 1977, 1980, and 1984, despite facing a pro-Congress wave following the assassination of then Prime Minister late Indira Gandhi.
This is, however, the first Lok Sabha election in the past 47 years (since 1977) that a member of Chaudhary Charan Singh’s family is not contesting the poll from this seat. After Chaudhary Charan Singh, his son and former union minister late Ajit Singh donned the family’s hat, winning the poll six times from the constituency. His first win came in 1989 when he secured 70.32 per cent of the votes. Ajit Singh won the poll from this seat again in 1991 and 1996, though he lost to the BJP’s Sompal in 1998. Ajit Singh won the seat again in 1999, 2004, and 2009. However, he lost in 2014. His son Jayant Chaudhary, who represented Mathura in 2009, lost the seat in 2014. Jayant Chaudhary also lost from the Baghpat seat in 2019.
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