Insight Bureau: For the last 33 years, Gorakhpur Sadar has been controlled by the saffron forces. And, this is the seat chosen by Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adtiyanath for 2022 Assembly Polls. Yogi, a five-time Lok Sabha MP from Gorakhpur, will be contesting assembly polls for the first time.
BJP’s Shiv Pratap Shukla held this seat from 1989 till 2002 (four terms – 1989, 1991, 1993, 1996). He lost the polls in 2002 to Radha Mohan Das Agarwal of Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha, who was backed by Yogi Adityanath. Immediately after winning the polls, Radha Mohan joined the BJP and has been winning this seat since then (2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017).
The Gorakhpur Sadar seat can be considered as the safest seat for any Hindutva leader, as the permutations and combinations related to the assembly elections are reportedly determined at the Gorakhnath Temple.
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The only setback BJP had received in the Gorakhpur region was in 2018 when the party lost the Lok Sabha bypoll to Samajwadi Party by a margin of 21,801 votes after Yogi relinquished the seat following his coronation as the Uttar Pradesh CM. And, the defeat was attributed to the internal rumblings within the party.
Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, who is a close aide of Yogi Adityanath, has welcomed the decision and extended his full support to Adityanath. It is believed that he will be rehabilitated in the Legislative Council or sent to Rajya Sabha at a later stage.
With Yogi choosing Gorakhpur Sadar, the focus is now on his winning margin only. Dr. Radha Mohan Das Agarwal had won the 2017 elections by 60,730 votes. Yogi is expected to increase the victory margin while trouncing the opposition candidates.
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