Ramesh Gautam, The SP Candidate From Bahraich Lok Sabha Constituency (Image: Facebook/ Ramesh Gautam)

The Samajwadi Party (SP) has released the second list of candidates for the Lok Sabha election in 2024. Former MLA Ramesh Gautam”s name has also been included in the candidate list announced by the Akhilesh Yadav-led party.

Ramesh Gautam will be contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on the Samajwadi Party”s ticket from Bahraich constituency. Ramesh Gautam was the former leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). He joined the Mayawati-led BSP in 1989. Ramesh Gautam contested elections from Gonda”s Dixir on the BSP ticket in the 2007 UP Assembly election. Notably, he won that election by securing 41,618 votes. Ramesh Gautam”s winning margin was 3358 votes.

Ramesh Gautam also contested the 2012 and 2017 UP Assembly polls from the Mankapur constituency. However, he lost both elections. In the 2012 polls, SP leader Babulal won the Mankapur constituency by securing 78,311 votes. In the 2017 polls, BJP candidate Ramapati Shastri defeated the BSP leader by a margin of 60,161 votes. During this election, Ramesh Chandra managed to get only 42,701 votes. He also contested in the 2019 by-elections from the Balha Assembly constituency. However, BJP candidate Saroj Sonkar defeated him, as Ramesh Chandra managed to secure only 31,640 votes.

In 2020, Ramesh Gautam left the Bahujan Samaj Party and joined the Samajwadi Party. The party gave him the chance from Mankapur during the 2022 UP Assembly election. BJP leader Ramapati Shastri defeated SP”s Ramesh Chandra by a margin of 39288 votes. Mankapur constituency recorded an estimated voter turnout of 55.06 percent in 2022.

At the same time, Bahraich Lok Sabha constituency is the sitting seat of the BJP. During the 2019 general elections, Akshaibar Lal won this seat by securing 5,25,982 votes. The SP candidate managed to get only 3,97,230 votes that time.