UP: Rajnath Singh eyes third term, to contest against SP's Ravidas Mehrotra, BSP's Sarwar Malik from Lucknow LS seat

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], May 18 (ANI): Lucknow, one of the 80 parliamentary constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, will go to polls on May 20 in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
As one of the most populous states in India, Uttar Pradesh plays a significant role in shaping the composition of the Lok Sabha.
In the Lucknow Lok Sabha constituency, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has set his sights on his third term as Lok Sabha MP. Singh will face Samajwadi Party candidate Ravidas Mehrotra from this seat. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has fielded Sarwar Malik.
Congress has won the Lucknow seat six times, and BJP has won eight times. Vijay Lakshmi Pandit, sister of the country's first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, became the first MP from this high-profile seat.
The constituency has been a stronghold of the BJP since 1991. It gained prominence with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee representing it. Vajpayee, after initial setbacks in 1955, 1957 and 1962, won the seat five times.
Earlier while addressing a public meeting in Lucknow, Rajnath Singh, said that he tried to fulfil the dreams of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and left no stone unturned for the city's development.
"We have diligently worked towards realising Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji's vision for Lucknow, and we remain committed to advancing it further in the future. Lucknow currently ranks tenth globally, and we aim to elevate it to the fifth position," Singh said.
There are 5 assembly constituencies under Lucknow Lok Sabha seat. These include Lucknow East, Lucknow West, Lucknow Central, Lucknow North and Cantt Assembly seats. There are a total of 39.33017 lakh voters in this parliamentary constituency. These include 20.82888 lakh male voters, 18.49960 lakh female voters and 169 third gender voters.
The 2019 Lok Sabha election in Lucknow recorded a voter turnout of 54.72 per cent. BJP's candidate Rajnath Singh received 6,33,026 votes defeating SP's Poonam Sinha and Congress' Acharya Pramod Krishnam, while receiving 56.70 per cent of total votes.
In the 2014 elections, the BJP's Rajnath Singh, again with 5,61,106 marginal votes, defeated the Congress' Rita Bahuguna Joshi, securing 5,61,106 votes and 54.52 percent of the vote share.
The other constituencies other than Lucknow that will go to voting on May 20 in Uttar Pradesh include Kaiserganj, Amethi, Mohanlalganj, Hamirpur, Jalaun, Jhansi, Banda, Fatehpur, Kaushambhi, Faizabad, Barabanki, Raebareli and Gonda.
Polling for 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh is being held across all seven phases. The counting of votes is scheduled for June 4. (ANI)