Mukesh Rajput: Reposing Faith In Farrukhabad For A Third Win (image:facebook.com/mukeshrajput)

Mukesh Rajput is a BJP leader and sitting MP representing Uttar Pradesh”s Farrukhabad Constituency. In the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, he retained the BJP ticket in the Farrukhabad constituency for the third time.

Farrukhabad is a Lodh community dominated region and BJP might have thought that reposing faith in Mukesh Rajput, who brought victory to the party twice is better than fielding a new face. Besides, Modi factor worked in Farrukhabad in the previous two elections. Dr Naval Kishore Shakya is the Samajwadi Party candidate in the Lok Sabha polls.

Mukesh Rajput has served as the President of Farrukhabad District Panchayat twice; from 2000 to 2005 and from 2006 to 2012.

In his debut Lok Sabha election in 2014, Mukesh Rajput defeated SP candidate Rameshwar Singh Yadav by a margin of 1,50,502 votes. He wrested the seat from incumbent Congress MP and then Minister of External Affairs Salman Khurshid. Senior Congress leader suffered a massive blow and retreated to the fourth position in the election. Meanwhile, in the 2019 election, Congress leader occupied the third position.

Before 2014, Farrukhabad witnessed BJP victory when BJP candidate and religious leader Sakshi Maharaj represented the constituency in 1996 and 1998 .

In the next General Elections in 2019, Mukesh Rajput defeated BSP”s (alliance candidate) Manoj Agarwal by a margin of 2,21,702 votes, almost doubled the vote count from the previous time. The massive and intimidating caste arithmetic of SP-BSP-RLD alliance in the 2019 elections was dismantled by BJP in Farrukhabad. Aside from the BJP votes, Mukesh Rajput has manged to receieve votes from Kurmi, Shakya and Yadav communities as well.

In October last year, along with the release of Bihar Caste Census report, Farrukhabad MP who was at Unnao spoke in favour of Caste Census and held that Central government should conduct it across the country.