Lok Sabha elections: Battle for Allahabad is BJP scion vs SP-Congress scion

The third candidate in the seat, which votes on May 25, is Ramesh Kumar Patel of the BSP.

While his father’s legacy and RSS organisational muscle are Neeraj’s best bet, the BJP candidate who is making his political debut is struggling with the fact that he was not seen around in the area before being pitchforked into the fight. Ujjwal, on the other hand, is a familiar face, being a three-time MLA and former minister in the Mulayam Singh Yadav government.

The Allahabad Lok Sabha seat is currently represented by the BJP’s Rita Bahuguna Joshi, and the party also holds four of the five Assembly segments falling under it (Allahabad South, Karachhana, Koraon and Bara). The fifth segment, Meja, is held by the SP.

In the past, the constituency has been represented by stalwarts like ‘Bharat Ratna’ Purushottam Das Tandon, former PMs Lal Bahadur Shashtri and V P Singh, senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, former UP CM Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, and film star Amitabh Bachchan.

While Neeraj is a Brahmin, Congress-SP candidate Ujjwal is a Bhumihar.

Neeraj is believed to have warded off competition from sitting MP Rita Bahuguna Joshi and state minister Nand Gopal Gupta to get the seat, and his prospects depend on how the two, and former MLA Neelam Karwaria, also an aspirant for the seat, support him.

On “political inactiveness”, an RSS-linked professor at the University of Allahabad says: “Neeraj is just known as the son of a former Governor. It is a big challenge for him to carry forward his father’s legacy.”

Ujjwal additionally appears to have an advantage in the rural areas of the constituency as well as enjoys the foundation of his father’s door-to-door network in the Karachhana area.

Where Neeraj scores is in the backing of around 25,000 advocates who practise in various courts, including the Allahabad High Court, and wield considerable influence in the Lok Sabha seats of Allahabad and Phulpur (which has Allahabad West and Allahabad North Assembly segments falling under it).

“We are running a door-to-door campaign. The candidate does not matter to us. We are working in national interest to mobilise voters,” says Manoj Sahu, a businessman and RSS worker.

Senior Allahabad High Court advocate Ashok Mehta says the support of his fraternity is key to winning the constituency. Also talking of “national interest”, Mehta says: “Advocates are working to ensure 100% voter turnout.”

In Kaithi, located around 25 km from Prayagraj and falling under the Karachhana Assembly segment, Shristi Narain Patel (OBC Kurmi), Jiledar Bhartiya (SC) and Lalji Prajapati (OBC Kumhar) complain of unemployment in unison. And blame the BJP.

“While our youth are crying for jobs, the BJP’s policies have destroyed us. All of us here are going to vote for the SP,” they say.

A few kilometres away, in Kaua, 24-year-old Vishal Bhartiya, a Scheduled Caste member who runs a Sahaj Jan Sewa Kendra, calls for a review of the Agnipath scheme. “I became eligible to vote in 2018 and voted for the SP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. In the 2022 Assembly polls, I chose the BJP as a vote against ‘jungle raj’. But this time, I am not going to vote for the BJP,” Bhartiya says, as his elder brother Nagendra adds that Neeraj’s wife Kavita Yadav has been making calls seeking support for the BJP.

In the Yadav-dominated village of Mungari, situated on the Prayagraj-Mirzapur Road, Prince Yadav says people have been “victimised” by the BJP regime and says their vote will remain with the SP, and hence Ujjwal.

Both camps claim they are confident of victory, in Allahabad as well as Phulpur. “We will win both the seats. There is no doubt whatsoever,” says Rajendra Mishra, BJP Prayagraj city unit president.

The president of the Yamunapur unit of the SP, Pappu Nishad, says the party has penetrated all sections of society. “People are angry with the BJP and our candidate is garnering support from across caste and community lines,” he says.