Lok Sabha 2024: Mainpuri, Mulayam Singh's Stronghold - Samajwadi Party Dominant Since 1996

Mainpuri in western Uttar Pradesh has long been a stronghold of the Samajwadi Party. With its predominantly rural landscape, the constituency has witnessed over 20 elections since 1952. Its politics was dominated by the late Mulayam Singh Yadav, a wrestler turned politician, and his legacy, now carried forward by his daughter-in-law, Dimple Yadav.

Electorate and Voter Turnout

The electorate of Mainpuri is predominantly rural (87%), while the remaining 13% is urban. Among the rural voters, Hindus constitute 90% of the demographic makeup. Scheduled Castes (SC) form a significant portion of the electorate, accounting for 20.5%.
 

Mulayam's Mainpuri

For decades, Mainpuri has been synonymous with the dominance of the Mulayam Singh Yadav family. The late Mulayam Singh Yadav, who served as the Chief Minister of UP for three terms and as Defence Minister, was a towering figure in Indian politics, won the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat five times.

Historical Significance

Mainpuri's politics is marked by pivotal moments and influential leaders. From the victories of the Congress in the early years to the emergence of Mulayam Singh Yadav as the undisputed leader, the constituency has witnessed a transformation in its electoral dynamics.

In 1952, Congress's Badshah Gupta became the first MP of Mainpuri. From then to 1984, the seat saw three more candidates until Balram Singh Yadav, a close aide of Mulayam Singh, solidified his grip on Mainpuri, winning the seat multiple times.

Uday Pratap Singh, who held the seat for two consecutive terms and vacated it in 1996 to make way for his protégé, is another stalwart who helped Mulayam Singh make Mainpuri his political stronghold. After winning the Lok Sabha polls, Singh became the defence minister of the country.
 

The Rise of Dimple Yadav

Dimple Yadav, the wife of Mulayam Singh Yadav's son Akhilesh Yadav - who heads the Samajwadi Party - is the current MP from Mainpuri. Despite initial setbacks, in which she was defeated by Congress's actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar in the 2009 Ferozabad by-elections, in 2012, after Akhilesh Yadav was appointed Chief Minister of UP, she became the first woman from Uttar Pradesh to be elected unopposed in a Lok Sabha by-election, and the second person after Purshottam Das Tandon's election from Allahabad West in 1952.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, she was defeated by the BJP candidate Shubat Pathak by a wafer-thin margin. In the 2022 by-elections from Mainpuri, after the death of SP's Patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, she won the election by a margin of 2.88 lakh votes.