Barring initial some terms since independence, the BJP’s hold over Lucknow has been strong for the past three decades, largely due to the popularity of its leaders and changing allegiance of voters.
Historical Overview: Lucknow Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 80 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. It is one of the two lok sabha constituencies that lies in the largest and capital city of the state, Lucknow. The Lucknow Lok Sabha constituency, located in Uttar Pradesh, India, has a significant political history, marked by its influence in Indian politics and its association with prominent political figures.
Since 1991 the seat has been held by the BJP. Its best-known MP is Former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Vajpayee contested from this seat eight times. First time, he contested 1955 bypoll and came third. Then he came second in 1957 and 1962. After these 3 losses, he won the seat five consecutive times, in 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004.
In recent years, Rajnath Singh, a senior BJP leader and the current Minister of Defence, has been representing Lucknow since 2014. – The 2014 and 2019 elections saw Rajnath Singh winning by significant margins, underscoring BJP’s strong presence in the constituency.
The representation of Lucknow by prominent leaders like Vajpayee and Rajnath Singh has ensured that the constituency received considerable developmental projects and attention. Lucknow is not just an ordinary parliamentary seat; it has often been seen as a symbol of political strategy and influence, especially for the BJP.
Members of Parliamemt
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit: She was an Indian freedom fighter, diplomat and politician. Pandit was the first MP from Lucknow constituency. She served as the 8th President of the United Nations General Assembly from 1953 to 1954, the first woman appointed to this post. She was also the 3rd Governor of Maharashtra from 1962 to 1964. Noted for her participation in the Indian independence movement, she was jailed several times during the movement.
Hailing from the prominent Nehru-Gandhi political family, her brother Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of independent India, her niece Indira Gandhi was the first female Prime Minister of India and her grand-nephew Rajiv Gandhi was the sixth and youngest Prime Minister of India. She was sent to London as India’s most important diplomat after serving as India’s envoy to the Soviet Union, the United States and the United Nations. Her time in London offers insights into the wider context of changes in India–UK relations.
Pulin Behari Banerji: He was an Indian politician. He was elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India from the Lucknow constituency of Uttar Pradesh as a member of the Indian National Congress.
B.K. Dhaon: He was an Indian politician and was elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India from the Lucknow constituency of Uttar Pradesh as a member of the Indian National Congress.
Anand Narain Mulla: He was an Indian Urdu poet. He served as a Member of Parliament in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Mulla was born at Lucknow in the North-Western Provinces of British India, in October 1901 and educated at Government Jubilee High School and College there. He won the Sahitya Akademi award in Urdu in 1964 for his poetry, specifically the book Meri Hadis-e-Umr-e-Gurezan. His first collection of poems, Ju-yi shir, published in 1949, was followed by Hans cog and Bamhina bol. He was also a recipient of the Iqbal Samman, a literary award, when aged 92. His father, Jagat Narain Mulla, was an advocate and government prosecutor. Anand Narain Mulla, a Kashmiri Brahmin, was himself a lawyer. In 1954 he became a judge of the Allahabad High Court, which he remained until 1961. Mulla was a member of the 4th Lok Sabha (1967–1970), elected as an Independent candidate from the Lucknow constituency. He was later elected as a Rajya Sabha member (1972–1978) as a nominee of the governing Indian National Congress party. Mulla died in New Delhi on 12 June 1997, aged 96 years.
Sheila Kaul: She was a social democratic leader of the Indian National Congress, a politician, cabinet minister and governor, and the oldest living former member of parliament in India at the time of her death. She was also an educator, social worker, and social reformer in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, and an independence activist in British India. She was Jawaharlal Nehru’s sister-in-law and Indira Gandhi’s maternal aunt. Kaul was the Corporator of the Lucknow Municipal Corporation during 1959–65, and a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council during 1968–71. She was elected as Member of Parliament five times – in 1971, 1980 and 1984 from Lucknow, and in 1989 and 1991 from Rae Bareli. She served as a Minister in the Cabinet of India during 1980–84 and 1991–95, and as the Governor of Himachal Pradesh during 1995–96. Kaul led the Indian delegations to the International Women’s Congress, Berlin in 1975, the International Conference of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, Copenhagen in 1980, the International Conference on the Role of Culture for Development of Man and Society, Sofia in 1980, the Sessions of General Conference of the UNESCO, Paris in 1982 and 1983, the First Conference of Ministers of Education and Culture of the Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries, Pyongyang in 1983, the International Conference on Education, Geneva in 1984, the United Nations General Assembly in 1985 and 1987, and the European Parliament in 1990. She became General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee in 1988.
Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna: She was an Indian National Congress leader and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh; he later joined Bharatiya Lok Dal and worked with Charan Singh. He was born on 25 April 1919 in Bughani, Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand in a Garhwali Brahmin family. The family later moved to Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh. Little is known about his first marriage. His first wife always lived in his native village Bughani as a simple village woman. His second wife, Kamala Bahuguna, lived with him in Allahabad and was mother of their three children. Their eldest son Vijay Bahuguna served as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. He was a former judge of Allahabad and Bombay High Court. He is member of Bharatiya Janata Party. Vijay’s son Saurabh is a Member of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly from BJP . He is serving as the Minister of Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, Skill development & Employment, Protocol and Sugarcane Development in the Pushkar Singh Dhami’s cabinet of 2022. The couple’s daughter, Rita Bahuguna Joshi was chief of UP Pradesh Congress committee. She also served as the Mayor of Allahabad. She is member of Bharatiya Janata Party.
Mandhata Singh: He was an Indian politician. He was elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India from the Lucknow constituency of Uttar Pradesh in 1989 as a member of the Janata Dal.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee: He was an Indian politician and poet who served three terms as the 10th Prime Minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 to 1999, followed by a full term from 1999 to 2004. He was the first non-Indian National Congress prime minister to serve a full term in the office. Vajpayee was one of the co-founders and a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was a member of the RSS, a Hindu nationalist volunteer organisation. He was also a Hindi poet and a writer. He was a member of the Indian Parliament for over five decades, having been elected ten times to the Lok Sabha, the lower house, and twice to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house. He served as the Member of Parliament from the Lucknow constituency, retiring from active politics in 2009 due to health concerns. He was among the founding members of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, of which he was president from 1968 to 1972. The BJS merged with several other parties to form the Janata Party, which won the 1977 general election. In March 1977, Vajpayee became the Minister of External Affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister, Morarji Desai. He resigned in 1979, and the Janata alliance collapsed soon after. Former members of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh formed the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1980, with Vajpayee its first president. In 2015, he was conferred India’s highest civilian honour — Bharat Ratna, by the then-President of India, Pranab Mukherjee. He died in 2018 of age-related illness.
Lalji Tandon: He was an Indian politician who served as the 18th Governor of Madhya Pradesh and 28th Governor of Bihar. He had also served as a member of parliament from 1996 until 2014 and as the Leader of the Opposition of the Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh from 2003 until 2007.
He was a member of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a protégé of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Tandon was a member of Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad (Legislative Council) for two terms, from 1978 until 1984 and remained the Leader of the House, of the Council from 1990 to 1996. Subsequently, he remained a member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) for three terms, 1996–2009, and remained the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly from 2003 to 2007.[7] He had also served as Urban Development minister in the Uttar Pradesh cabinet under Mayawati (in the BSP-BJP alliance), and also in the Kalyan Singh ministry earlier. Tandon was the leader of opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from 2003 to 2007. In May 2009, he was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from Lucknow by a margin over 40,000 votes over Rita Bahuguna Joshi of Indian National Congress.
Rajnath Singh: He is an Indian politician and lecturer who is serving as the 29th Defence Minister of India since 2019. He is currently the deputy Leader of the House, Lok Sabha
since 2014. He was the 8th President of Bharatiya Janata Party from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2014. He is a veteran leader of the BJP who started his career as a RSS Swayamsevak. Singh has previously served as the 19th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from 2000 to 2002 and a Cabinet Minister for Road Transport and Highways in the Vajpayee Government from 1999 to 2000 and the minister of Agriculture from 2003 to 2004. He was the 30th Home Minister in the First Modi Ministry from 2014 to 2019, and also was the first to serve in position born after the country’s independence in 1947. He has also served the party in the Uttar Pradesh state from where he started his political career. He was the President of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha from 1988 to 1990.He was a member of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Haidergarh (assembly constituency) twice, being Chief minister. He was a member of Lok Sabha from Lucknow since 2014 and Ghaziabad from 2009 to 2014. He was also a member of Rajya Sabha from 2002 to 2008 and from 1994 to 2001.