BJP's Om Kumar To Contest In Uttar Pradesh's Nagina (image-X/OmkumarMla)
Among the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Nagina is reserved for Scheduled Castes, comprising parts of Bijnor district. According to the 2011 census, the voter base includes around 21 percent of individuals from the SC community. There is also 43 percent Muslim population within the constituency.
In the 1989 general elections, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati had contested and won from the Bijnor constituency, which now comes under the Nagina constituency.
Congress candidate and Ambedkarite activist Chandra Shekhar Azad, under the Azad Samaj Party (ASP), has also been nominated for the constituency. Wielding a significant influence over the Dalit community, Azad has launched his door-to-door campaign.
In the general elections of 2014, BJP candidate Yashwant Singh won with 39 percent of the votes from Nagina, however, he faced defeat in the 2019 elections when BSP’s Girish Chandra surpassed him with 56 percent of the votes. In the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the saffron party has chosen Om Kumar for the Lok Sabha seat.
Born in Bijnor district, Om Kumar comes from the Jatav community. The Jatav caste falls at the bottom of India’s caste hierarchy. As per the 2011 census, the community comprises 54 percent of the state.
After completing high school, Om Kumar began his career as a businessperson. The three-term MLA represented the Nehtaur constituency on the BJP ticket. In the 2017 elections, he defeated Congress candidate Munnalai Premi by a margin of 23,000 votes. In 2022, he won by a close margin of 258 votes, defeating Rashtriya Lok Dal’s (RLD) Munsi Ram.
The Nagina constituency includes legislative assembly segments such as Najibabad, Dhampur, Noorpur, and Nehtaur (SC reserved).
