Agra Lok Sabha polls: BJP eyes 4th consecutive win in UP's Dalit capital

Agra (Uttar Pradesh) [India], May 6 : With its rich historical background and heterogeneous electorate, the Agra constituency continues to be at the centre of attention in the general elections. The constituency will go to polls on May 7 in the third phase of polls.
The candidate roster for the 2024 elections in Agra Lok Sabha Constituency boasts prominent figures, with Satyapal Singh Baghel representing the Bharatiya Janata Party and Suresh Chandra Kardam, a shoe salesman and ex-leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has been fielded by the Samajwadi Party.
Pooja Amrohi, the daughter of veteran Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Satya Behen, has been pitted by the BSP as its candidate for the Lok Sabha elections.
Agra comprises five assembly segments: Etmadpur, Agra Cantt., Agra South, Agra North, and Jalesar.
Satyapal Baghel is the incumbent Member of Parliament from Agra. He won the 2019 election by a landslide margin of 2,11,546 votes against BSP's Manoj Kumar Soni. Baghel secured a total of 6,46,875 votes while Soni garnered 4,35,329 votes.
A huge winning margin in the 2019 elections showed significant voter turnout and engagement, underscoring the electorate's commitment to shaping the political landscape.
In this Scheduled Caste (SC)-reserved seat, Dalits constitute approximately 30 per cent of the 20.57 lakh voters. Despite concerns over its declining performance, particularly among Jatav Dalits, the BSP still commands significant support within this demographic.
Despite the BSP's stronghold, the Agra Lok Sabha seat has been secured by the BJP in the past three elections.
Agra remained a bastion of the Congress party for years since independence. In 1999 and 2004, the then Samajwadi leader Raj Babbar won the Lok Sabha elections and the BJP secured the second position. Babbar is now a Congress has recently
Since 2009, Agra's electorate has ensured the BJP's win with huge margins.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP candidate Ram Shankar Katheria won the polls with a margin of 3,00,263 votes. The total voter turnout in the 2014 polls in Agra was 59 per cent.
In the 2019 elections, voter participation was commendable, with a notable 61.7 per cent voter turnout.
The BJP emerged triumphant, securing 62 out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh, while two seats were clinched by its ally Apna Dal (S). Mayawati's BSP managed to secure 10 seats, while Akhilesh Yadav's SP garnered five and the Congress Party secured only one seat.