From the pages of the history: Allahabad, Phulpur the electoral karmabhoomi of stalwarts

The two Lok Sabha constituencies in Prayagraj district – Allahabad and Phulpur – have elected stalwarts, including three prime ministers, over the years to script chapters of pre-eminence in India’s political history.

While India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was elected from Phulpur thrice in 1952, 1957 and 1962, Lal Bahadur Shastri was chosen by the voters of Allahabad in 1957 and 1962. Vishwanath Pratap Singh, who served as PM in 1989-90, was elected to the Lok Sabha from Phulpur in 1971 and Allahabad in 1980 and 1987 (by-election). He was elected from Fatehpur in 1989 and 1991 on the Janata Dal ticket.

The Allahabad and Phulpur seats have also helped many other senior politicians get elected to Parliament.

Vijayalakshmi Pandit won the Phulpur by-election in 1964 after Nehru’s death. She retained the seat in 1967. Apart from Nehru, Rampujan Patel, first as the Congress nominee and later as Janata Dal candidate, was the only other MP to represent Phulpur three times in a row. Jang Bahadur Patel of the Samajwadi Party won the seat twice in succession in 1996 and 1998. The now-slain gangster Atiq Ahmed won the Phulpur seat in 2004 on the Samajwadi Party ticket.

As for the Allahabad parliamentary seat, veteran BJP leader and former Union human resource development minister Murli Manohar Joshi scored a hat-trick of wins here. He won the seat in 1996, 1998 and 1999.

Veteran Samajwadi Party leader Rewati Raman Singh won the seat in 2004 and 2009. Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan was elected from Allahabad in 1984 but resigned in 1987. The seat is now held by Rita Bahuguna Joshi of the BJP.

Currently, with the schedule for Lok Sabha elections-2024 having been declared, aspirants are busy trying to secure party tickets to enter the poll fray from Allahabad and Phulpur.

Prominent winners from Allahabad

1952 Purushottam Das Tandon (Congress)

1957 Lal Bahadur Shastri (Congress)

1962 Lal Bahadur Shastri (Congress)

1971 Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Congress

1980 Vishwanath Pratap Singh (Congress)

1984 Amitabh Bachchan (Congress)

1987 Vishwanath Pratap Singh (Independent, bypoll)

1996 Murli Manohar Joshi (BJP)

1998 Murli Manohar Joshi (BJP)

1999 Murli Manohar Joshi (BJP)

2019 Rita Bahuguna Joshi (BJP)

Prominent winners from Phulpur

1952 Jawaharlal Nehru (Congress)

1957 Jawaharlal Nehru (Congress)

1962 Jawaharlal Nehru (Congress)

1964 Vijayalakshmi Pandit (Congress, by-election)

1967 Vijayalakshmi Pandit (Congress)

1971 Vishwanath Pratap Singh (Congress)

2014 Keshav Prasad Maurya (BJP)