(image: facebook.com/mukeshrajput/)

BJP sitting MP Mukesh Rajput won Farrukhabad Lok Sabha seat after a fierce battle with Dr Naval Kishor Shakya of SP. Though Naval Kishor managed to make lead in between, Mukesh Rajput finally crossed the victory line with a margin of 2,678 votes. As Mukesh Rajput got 4,87,963 votes and Naval Kishor Shakya got 4,85,285 votes.

Mukesh Rajput was looking for a third time from the constituency He was preceded by Salman Khurshid, the former minister for External Affairs in the UPA government.

SP fielded Naval Kishor Shakya, a cancer surgeon renowned for social work. He runs hospitals in Lucknow and Kaimganj. Naval Kishore was a former BSP leader and later, joined SP in 2018. Kranti Pandey is the BSP nominee. Lodhi community plays a decisive role in the electoral politics in Farrukhabad.

In 2014, Mukesh Rajput won the election by receiving 4,06,195 votes by defeating Rameshwar Singh Yadav of SP. Mukesh Rajput won with a margin of 1,50,502 votes. The sitting MP, Salman Khurshid retreated to fourth place, causing huge blow to the BJP. In 2019, Mukesh Rajput gained a huge majority of 2,21,702 votes against SP’s Manoj Agarwal.

(This story is part of Timeline internship project)