Allahabad, Phulpur’s wait for woman MP finally ends

Allahabad: The Modi wave that battered a formidable alliance between Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party in the state in the Lok Sabha election has another feather in its cap — ending Phulpur’s 42-year-old wait for a woman MP.
The last time Phulpur was represented by a woman parliamentarian was in 1977 when Kamala Bahugna was elected as an MP on a Bharatiya Lok Dal ticket. Decades later, her daughter UP minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi was elected as an MP, after the results of 2019 Lok Sabha elections were announced on Thursday, but from Allahabad.
It was also the first time that the both Allahabad and Phulpur constituencies are being represented by women, Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Keshari Devi Patel respectively.
Allahabad has been represented by a woman parliamentarian only once — in 1991 by Janata Dal’s Saroj Dubey.
Before 2019, both Joshi and Patel had tried their luck at contesting a general election, but were unsuccessful. While Joshi contested the 1999 Lok Sabha poll on a Congress ticket from Allahabad, Patel was the BSP nominee from Phulpur in the 2004 general election.
Phulpur has witnessed 20 Lok Sabha elections since 1952 and has sent 17 male MPs to Parliament.
Apart from Bahuguna in 1977, former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s sister Vijay Lakshmi Pandit was also elected as an MP from Phulpur in a bypoll in 1964.
She contested again in 1980 on a Congress ticket, but lost.
Before winning from the seat this time, Patel had lost to mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed by a margin of 60,000 votes in the 2004 Lok Sabha election. Ahmed had contested on an SP ticket.
Allahabad too has always been dominated by male MPs, save Saroj Dubey. She emerged victorious after defeating BJP’s Shyama Charan Gupta by 5,196 votes in 1991.
Professor of medieval and modern history in Allahabad University, Yogeshwar Tiwari, said, “It was not surprising to see BJP fielding women candidates from the two seats, given its track record. The PM Modi-led NDA government has appointed seasoned women politicians like Nirmala Sitharaman and Sushma Swaraj to important posts of defence and external affairs minister respectively. What’s more important is the fact that voters also gave the politicians a chance,” he added.
In the past, Allahabad has been represented by stalwarts like former Prime Ministers Lal Bahadur Shashtri and VP Singh, socialist leader Janeshwar Mishra, actor Amitabh Bachachan and, Joshi’s father and former UP chief minister HN Bahuguna.
“I know people have a lot of expectations from us, but I would like to assure voters, irrespective of whether they voted for me or not, I would not disappoint them,” said Joshi.
She said her priorities as an MP include reviving the Naini industrial belt and ensuring potable water supply to villages in trans-Yamuna area of the district.
Patel said that it was time for politiciams to start working for voters. “In Phulpur, different voters have different needs as the seat is combination of both urban and rural areas.”