NEW DELHI: Ghaziabad gears up for intense electoral showdown, BJP’s stronghold faces challenge as diverse electorate awaits decision in key constituency.
Ghaziabad, a key Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh, is set for electoral action in the second phase on April 26. Ghaziabad holds immense significance as the gateway to Uttar Pradesh, given its close proximity to Delhi, which is why every party wants to capture this constituency. Since its formation Ghaziabad has developed infrastructurally.
Locals told The Sunday Guardian, they have only one demand, connecting Ghaziabad with Delhi, and hoped that soon in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s next term it would get fulfilled.
This is one of the youngest constituencies that was formed after delimitation in 2008. The first election for the Ghaziabad Lok Sabha seat took place in 2009, where BJP’s prominent leader Rajnath Singh emerged victorious by a significant margin. The Lok Sabha constituency comprises five assembly seats—Loni, Muradnagar, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, and Dholana.
The BJP has a strong hold on Ghaziabad, as since this seat came into existence, it has been ruled by the BJP. The BJP emerged victorious in the 2009, 2014, and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In 2019, BJPs General VK Singh secured a massive victory with 9,44,503 votes, leading by over 5 lakh votes against Samajwadi Party’s (SP) Suresh Bansal, who secured second position with 4,43,003 votes.
However, this time the BJP has fielded local MLA Atul Garg to contest against the I.N.D.I.A. bloc candidate Dolly Sharma.
Dolly Sharma is contesting the election on a Congress ticket. The Congress is contesting 17 seats, while the SP and other parties of the alliance will field their candidates in 63 of the 80 parliamentary seats in Uttar Pradesh as per the seat-sharing deal.
Gopi, a resident of Ghaziabad, said that previously this city was known for its criminal activities, but since it came under the BJP’s rule, its identity has changed and gained popularity for its development.
He added, “Both the central and state BJP governments have done various development works in the city, including regional train service, metros, roads, highways, and expressway etc., so we will again vote for them.”
Ranjeet, a cab driver who has lived in Ghaziabad for two decades, accused the BJP government of inflating the prices of oil, food, vegetables, petrol, and diesel. He added, “Under the Mulayam Singh government, the price of daily amenities were in control, so we need to change the government and back the I.N.D.I.A. bloc candidate to secure victory in Ghaziabad.”
Roshni, a first-time voter, said that Ghaziabad was not safe for girls, but now it is, and she thanks the BJP government for it. She added, “I’ll cast my vote in the name of PM Modi and CM Yogi, as because of them I feel safe while travelling.”
Ghaziabad reflects a diverse demographic and remains a crucial constituency of Uttar Pradesh. According to the Election Commission of India data, the constituency has a total of 29,02 lakh registered voters.
Among them, 15.54 lakh are males, 12.60 million are females, and 186 belong to the third gender.
Around 3,197 polling stations have been established across the Ghaziabad constituency.
72 percent of the population here is Hindu, and 25 percent is Muslim. Dalits and Muslims have been quite decisive in Ghaziabad.
There are also Brahmin, Vaishya, Gurjar, Thakur, Punjabi, and Yadav voters in the district.