NEW DELHI: Hardoi is one of the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh and plays a significant role in state as well as national politics. Initially, Congress had a stronghold in this seat, but slowly, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has gained ground. The Samajwadi Party (SP) also has some influence on the voters of the constituency. The Hardoi electoral landscape has witnessed 17 Lok Sabha elections before 2024. Hardoi used to be the fortress for Congress, but with time, their presence on the ground diminished. In the last two Lok Sabha elections, the BJP emerged victorious and is eyeing a hattrick this time.
In the 2019 general election, the BJP’s Jay Prakash Rawat won this seat with a victory margin of 1,32,474 votes. The Hardoi seat comprises five assembly segments, including Sawaijpur, Shahabad, Hardoi, Gopamau, and Sandi. In 2019, all five assembly segments voted in favour of the BJP, and the same result appears in the 2022 assembly election. This time in 2024, the BJP has again fielded Jay Prakash Rawat to contest against SP-led I.N.D.I.A. bloc candidate Usha Verma, while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) announced Bhimroa Ambedkar to contest the election. Talking about the issues in the constituency, Preeti Seth told The Sunday Guardian, “Even though the constituency is situated just around 150 km away from the state capital Lucknow, it still lacks basic needs like education; the constituency doesn’t have proper educational infrastructure, even though I have migrated from Hardoi for my higher studies.”
Shiv Hari, another local voter, said the constituency still has many issues even after people opted to vote for the BJP in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Aditiyanath. “People of Hardoi voted for the BJP in the hope of development, but in return, they got nothing. The roads in the constituency are filled with potholes, and even the health infrastructure is not up to par. People have to go to Lucknow in search of treatment.”
On the other hand, Deepak, a BJP spokesperson, told The Sunday Guardian that they are seeking votes on the developments made by the BJP-led central government and state government. He added that the people of Hardoi have faith in Modi’s guarantee, and they will again vote for us. Further, he said that soon, with the completion of the Ganga Expressway from Merut to Pragraj, it will provide seamless connectivity for the people of Hardoi, and it will also provide employment opportunities for them.
“We are confident that once again the people of Hardoi will vote for the BJP,” he said. I.P. Singh, spokesperson of the SP, told The Sunday Guardian that since 2014, the BJP has not worked on their promises in the constituency. He added that the constituency lacks infrastructure, unemployment, health facilities, transportation, and education. Singh said, SP will win in Hardoi, as the people of Hardoi have witnessed how the BJP has cheated them in the name of development and a double-engine government.