Will Dimple Yadav retain Mainpuri or BJP's Jaiveer Singh spring surprise in SP stronghold?

Lok Sabha elections 2024: Mainpuri, one of the 80 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, will go to polls in the third phase of the ongoing general polls on May 7. From the initial dominance of the Congress to the emergence of Mulayam Singh Yadav as a dominant leader, the Mainpuri constituency has experienced significant political transformation through the decades. 

The constituency, which is home to rich cultural and historical heritage, has been a Samajwadi Party (SP) stronghold since the past 27 years. The Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency comprises 5 Assembly segments: Mainpuri, Bhongaon, Kishni. Karhal and Jaswantnagar.

Mainpuri-- a Samajwadi Party pocket borough

Former Uttar Pradesh CM late Mulayam Singh Yadav has represented the constituency for five times in 1996, 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019. The Yadav family considers this seat as their safe seat. After winning from Mainpuri and Azamgarh in 2014, Mulayam Singh Yadav chose to represent Azamgarh.

The former UP Chief Minister, also known as Netaji, passed the Mainpuri baton to his grandson Tej Pratap Singh Yadav. In the 2014 bypolls, Tej Pratap Singh Yadav won the seat with more than 6.5 lakh votes and a vote share of 64.46 per cent. 

In the 2022 byelection necessitated by Mulayam Singh Yadav's death, his daughter-in-law Dimple Yadav won the seat with more than 6.18 lakh votes and commanded a vote share of 64.08 per cent. She defeated her nearest rival and BJP candidate Raghuraj Singh Shakya by more than 2.88 lakh votes.

This time around, the Mainpuri contest may not be a cakewalk for the Samajwadi Party. The Lok Sabha constituency is braced for a three-way contest between Dimple Yadav, BJP's Jaiveer Singh and Bahujan Samaj Party's Shiv Prasad Yadav. 

Dimple Yadav, Jaiveer Singh Lok Sabha campaign

During her Lok Sabha elections 2024 campaign from Mainpuri, Dimple Yadav has focused on several key issues. These include law and order, women's security, regime change at the Centre, electoral bonds issue as well as jobs crisis and unemployment. She has criticised the ruling BJP for spreading fake information, while alleging corruption through electoral bonds. 

BJP's Jaiveer Singh, on the other hand, has emphasised that he is a local candidate who understands the needs and aspirations of the people of Mainpuri. In his campaign, Singh has highlighted the development work done by the Yogi Adityanath government in the state and the Modi government at the Centre. 

He also cited the Ram Temple in Ayodhya in a bid to capitalise the voters' angst against the Samajwadi Party's stance on the Ram Mandir pran pratishtha issue. Jaiveer Singh also talked about development works in other places like Varanasi, Vrindavan, Mathura, Naimishyaran and Bateshwar. 

Dimple Yadav, Jaiveer Singh trade barbs

Earlier this month, Dimple Yadav said that whoever contests from Mainpuri will not make a huge difference. She added that the Samajwadi Party will win the Lok Sabha election from this seat with a huge margin. "We are getting massive support, love and blessings of the people. The results this time will be much better than that of the last time," she said. 

Commenting on this, Jaiveer Singh, Uttar Pradesh minister and BJP's pick from Mainpuri against SP's Dimple Yadav, said she won the 2022 bypoll due to the sympathy wave over Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's passing but the "time has crossed" now.

He added people are asking about her work in the constituency, while claiming she has no satisfactory answers. "She (Dimple Yadav) had won in the bypoll riding on sympathy wave over the death of Mulayam Singh Yadav. But now, time has passed and people are asking for development work in the area to which the incumbent MP has no answer," Singh told PTI. 

He added that people have backed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for their development work. He added people want a double engine government to further improve their life and livelihood, while expressing confidence about winning the election "100 per cent."

Jaiveer Singh was with the Congress and in the Samajwadi Party during Akhilesh Yadav's government in UP from 2012-17 before switching over to the BJP in 2017.