In UP, 'power' flows from this 'auspicious' seat

LUCKNOW: Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav's choice of constituency to launch his election campaign flummoxed everybody. While other leaders are starting from west UP ,which is going to the polls in the first two phases, Akhilesh began from Sultanpur Sadar, which votes in the fifth phase. Political observers say what could have driven him to choose the place is the fact that it's a lucky seat--since 1969, the party which wins the seat, forms the government in Lucknow.
From Congress in 1969 to SP in 2012, all parties which eventually formed the government after elections had conquered this seat which was called Jaisinghpur before delimitation in 2009.
Sitting MLA Arun Kumar Verma, the youngest winner in 2012, says that he came to know about CM's rally plan just three days ago. "I had to make a hectic preparation to make it successful," he told TOI.

The spell of luck for this seat started in1969 when Sheo Kumar won from Congress and Congress formed the government. Kumar repeated the feat in 1974 and the Congress retained power.
In 1977, when the Janata wave swept across the country , Jaisinghpur, too, elected a Janata Party candidate-Maqbool Husain Khan. In Lucknow, Congress was deposed.
In 1980, however, the seat again went back to Congress.While its candidate Devendra Pandey snatched it from the Janata Party , Congress came back to power. It was a Congress winner and Congress government in 1985, too. However, Jaisinghpur elected a Janata Dal candidate in 1989 and the party formed the government.
The seat went to BJP for the first time in 1991 and the saffron party formed its maiden government. His government fell after Babri Masjid demolition in 1992 and in the bypolls held the next year, the people Jaisinghpur elected SP candidate A Raish. After the elections, SP formed the government in coalition with BSP. In 1996 assembly elections, BSP candidate Ram Ratan Yadav won the seat and results saw a fractured mandate. However, after six months, BSP and BJP formed their first coalition government. The party retained the seat in 2002 elections and it was a BSP-BJP government again in the state. Continuing with its strange 'winning' trend, the constituency elected a BSP candidate in 2007 and SP's Verma in 2012.
This time, he is facing BJP's Sitaram Verma and BSP's Raj Prasad Upadhyay. "It's a coincidence but we believe in it. Locals say if BJP candidate wins from here, BJP will come to power in UP," says Rishikesh Ojha, a BJP leader.