LUCKNOW: Dominated by BJP since 1989, Lucknow West is likely to have a close contest. Congress, SP and BSP have fielded Muslim candidates while BJP has banked on a kayastha nominee.
The seat was won three consecutive times by Ram Kumar Shukla and Lalji Tandon from BJP between 1989 to 2007.
Then again in 2017, BJP’s Suresh Kumar Shrivastav won it with 13,000 votes against SP’s Mohammad Rehan Naeem. After his death in 2019, the seat remained vacant.
BJP has fielded local kayasth trader Anjani Kumar Srivastava. SP has put its stake on Armaan Khan, who contested on BSP ticket from the seat in 2012 and stood third with over 36,000 votes.
The constituency has a mixed population of 6.12 lakh people comprising Muslims, Dalits, Kayasthas, Thakurs, Brahmins, and Punjabis.
Considering large number of Muslim voters, the BSP and Congress have fielded Muslim candidates Kayam Raza Khan and Shahana Siddiqui, respectively.
Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party has put its bet on Rajiv Bakshi, son of four-time MLA Swaroop Kumari Bakshi. She was elected MLA on Congress ticket from 1974 to 1985 from Lucknow East constituency.
