Jai Prakash Rawat: This BJP Candidate Vying For A Fifth Win In Hardoi (image:twitter.com/MpJaiprakash)

Jai Prakash Rawat is a sitting MP and BJP candidate representing Uttar Pradesh’s Hardoi parliamentary constituency in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. As the BJP declared the first list of its candidates for the general elections on Saturday, Jai Prakash Rawat retained the BJP ticket in the Hardoi constituency for the second time.

Jai Prakash”s first electoral debut was in 1991 when he contested for the Hardoi Lok Sabha seat under the BJP ticket and won. In the next 1996 election, Prakash also retained the seat. But, while aiming for a third term in 1998, he suffered defeat, and Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Usha Verma secured victory at that time. In the 1999 elections, Jai Prakash Rawat again emerged as a winner as a Democratic Congress candidate. Interestingly, in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, he contested from the Mohanlalganj constituency under the SP ticket and won. In the 2009 elections, Jai Prakash again shifted party allegiance and contested under the BSP ticket but suffered defeat.

The Hardoi Lok Sabha seat has been reserved for Scheduled Castes since independence. A constituency with strong rural character that was once a stronghold of the Samajwadi Party is now under the influence of the BJP.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, replacing BJP sitting MP Ansul Verma, the BJP took their gamble on Jai Prakash Rawat, and it was successful. Jai Prakash won the Hardoi seat by defeating SP”s Usha Verma by a margin of 1,32,474 votes.

Though no political party has repeated its victory for the second consecutive term in the Hardoi seat since 2004, the 2019 election broke the pattern with the BJP emerging victorious, and its margin of votes has also increased.

During his term as a parliamentarian, he held positions as a member in the various committees, including Food, Civil Supplies and Public Distribution, Subordinate Legislation, and Private Member”s Bills and Resolutions.