BJP scripts history in Unnao’s Purwa, bags seat after 70 yrs

Lucknow: Besides Yogi Adityanath’s historic feat of breaking the 37-year jinx to get re-elected, another history was scripted in Purwa assembly seat in Unnao, where BJP triumphed for the first time since the constituency was carved out in 1951. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had extensively campaigned in Purwa to tilt the scales and BJP candidate, Anil Kumar Singh, romped home by a margin of 25,000 votes.
Seventy-one years ago, when this constituency was created, Congress’ Ramdhin Singh registered a big win.After the grand old party’s grip finally loosened, Purwa remained a Samajwadi Party bastion for 16 years with its candidate Uday Raj Yadav recording four serial victories —1996, 2002, 2007 and 2012. Five years ago, BSP’s Anil Singh, who later defected to BJP, breached the SP fort and defeated the BJP candidate, Uttam Chandra, during the Modi wave.
SP’s hold over Purwa was complete till 2012, when its candidate Uday Raj Yadav won by a big margin of 85,073 votes, trouncing BSP’s Narendra Singh Lodhi. And in 1996 when Uday Raj first contested on a SP ticket, he had won by a margin of mere 1,810 votes after defeating BSP’s Hridai Narayan. Congress’ Ramadhin Singh, who debuted from Purwa with a win, was defeated by an Independent candidate, Parmeshwar Din Varma, in 1957 by a slim margin of 2,295 votes. Singh, however, retained this seat for Congress in 1962. Five years later, Purwa elected a Bharatiya Jan Sangh candidate, Lakhan. However, fortunes swung again for Congress in 1969, the party wrested the seat. In fact, Purwa remained a Congress fort for eight years till 1977 with its candidate Dularelal and Gaya Singh continuing the winning streak.
In 1977, when the Janata Party wave swept the country, Purwa, too, elected a Janata Party candidate, Chandra Bhushan Singh. Congress candidate Samad Yar Beg came second, losing by a margin of 6,242 votes. In 1980, the seat returned to Congress after its candidate Gaya Singh snatched it from Janata Party candidate Hira Lal Yadav with a victory margin of 21,284 votes. An independent candidate, Hriday Narayan Dikshit, won this seat in 1985, and repeated the feat in 1989 and 1991 on a Janata Dal ticket. In 1993, he switched to Samajwadi Party and defeated BJP’s Krishna Dutt alias Bhagole by a margin of 6,310 votes. In 1996 assembly elections, SP candidate Udai Raj won the seat and his sway continued till 2017, before BSP’s Anil Singh cut short his victory run.