Defence Minister Rajnath Singh seeks third straight win from BJP's Bastion Lucknow

Lucknow Lok Sabha seat has been a BJP bastion for over 30 years, largely owing to the enduring popularity of its longest-served MP, the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is seeking his third consecutive term from here, is confident that the trend will continue as he seeks votes based on his contribution to the web of roads and flyovers in the rapidly expanding and urbanising Uttar Pradesh capital and the 'development plank' of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

His rival, senior Samajwadi Party leader Ravidas Mehrotra, the current and two-time MLA of Lucknow central, is betting on anti-incumbency as well as consolidation of Muslim votes and a section of upper castes to end BJP's strong hold here.


Lucknow has been with BJP since 1991, and was held by Vajpayee between 1991 and 2004, followed by Lalji Tandon once and then Singh since 2014. Singh, often seen as a reflection of Vajpayee here, never misses to invoke his name. "I have tried to fulfil Atalji's dreams for Lucknow," he says in almost all his addresses.

Known for their moderate stance and politics, the two leaders also appealed to a section of the one-fourth Muslim population of Lucknow, prominently the Shia minorities numbering about 2.5-3 lakh in the city.

Among the most prominent contributions of Singh, he invokes the 100-km Outer Ring Road built at a cost of Rs 6,000 crore besides a slew of local flyovers and bridges. He also lists kickstarting the construction and completion of the Gomti Nagar Railway Station, foundation stone for which was laid by Vajpayee in 2000, apart from the Brahmos missile factory being set up in Lucknow. Singh said 12-13 more flyovers have been approved and will be constructed soon.



His younger son Neeraj Singh is playing a prominent role in his campaigning, with some BJP workers suggesting this might be his grooming for a possible foray in the city's politics later. Rajnath's elder son Pankaj Singh is MLA from Noida and is also campaigning here.

SP-Congress alliance candidate Mehrotra was a feisty student politician from his days in the Lucknow University. He has been jailed for more than 250 times in his political career, not for any crime but for demonstrations and protests. Among other things, he is also invoking the local versus outsider plank against Singh. SP leader Akhilesh Yadav held a massive roadshow seeking votes for Mehrotra and for 'parivartan (change)' in the city on Friday.

Within Muslims, Shias have often in the past sided with BJP, primarily due to efforts of Vajpayee to warm up to the community and the resolution of the Azadari dispute and the smooth facilitating of their religious processions. However, this time the community is divided as their reverence for Rajnath is dwarfed by bread-and-butter issues as well as BJP leaders' communal rhetoric.

Maulana Kalbe Jawad, the most revered Shia cleric of the city, on Friday said while he has not made any directions to vote for any party, Rajnath was "an extremely decent (shareef)" person who did a lot not just for Lucknow but also for the community. However, Jawad said one could vote for whoever one preferred.

"We listen to him in matters of Islam but our political choice is ours," said Sayyed Rizvi, a Shia voter. "Rajnath is fine, but will he be made the PM? It would have been nice if he could be made CM here instead of Yogi, but even that is not to happen. Look at Dinesh Sharma - he is such a decent man, respects everybody. He was also removed as deputy CM... Then, what is the point? We will vote for change," he said. Another Shia voter, Ahmed Hussain pointed to how he had to shutter his Zari Zardozi work after demonetisation and is now forced to sell small hardware tools like scissors, etc. on the road. "Shias and Sunnis, everybody will vote for change," he said.