Sitapur, 9 May (HS): Sitapur, one of the important parliamentary seats of the state, was once considered a stronghold of the Congress. The party has won this seat a record 6 times in the 17 parliamentary elections held so far. The grand-old party also has the record of hat-trick victory on this seat. However, Congress's deposit on this seat has also been forfeited seven times. It is worth mentioning that Congress had last won the Sitapur seat 30 years ago.

The party won the first election: The first general election on Sitapur parliamentary seat was held in 1952. At that time two MPs were elected from this seat. In this election, Paragi Lal and Uma Nehru led Congress to victory. Even in 1957, Paragi Lal and Nehru won again and reached Delhi. One MP started being elected from this seat in the 1962 general elections. Congress lost the seat in this election. Jan Sangh candidate Suraj Lal had defeated Dinesh Pratap Singh of Congress.

Congress returned with victory in 1971: In the fifth Lok Sabha elections, Congress returned with victory on this seat. Congress candidate Jagdish Chandra Dixit defeated Jayanarayan Rathi of Bharatiya Jana Sangh. In this election, the Congress candidate got 56.67 percent votes.

Survived seizure of deposit in the anti-Congress wave: After the Emergency, during the 1977 general elections, there was a strong anti-Congress wave in the country. In this election, Bharatiya Lok Dal candidate Hargovind Verma defeated the Congress candidate by a margin of more than 1 lakh votes. In this election, the Congress candidate was successful in saving his deposit.

Victory in 1980: Rajendra Kumari Bajpai of Congress won the elections for the seventh Lok Sabha in 1980. Rajendra Kumari also won the elections of 1984 and 1989. Rajendra Kumari Bajpayee's record of hat-trick victory on this seat has not been broken yet.

Lotus bloomed for the first time in 1991. For the first time in the 1991 general elections, BJP candidate Janardan Prasad Mishra bloomed a lotus flower here. Three-time MP Congress candidate Rajendra Kumari Bajpai stood second.

The process of confiscation of deposit started in 1996: The stars of Congress were in trouble in the elections of 11th Lok Sabha. In this election, Congress candidate Ram Gopal Mishra stood fourth by getting 10.00 percent votes. For the first time, the deposit of a Congress candidate on this seat was confiscated. In the 1998 elections, Congress candidate Dr. Ammar Rizvi got 10.17 percent votes. Rizvi lost his deposit. In the 1999 elections, Ammar Rizvi of Congress got 15.98 percent votes. Rizvi stood fourth in this election. He failed to save his deposit. In 2004, Congress candidate Raja Mohammad Amir Mohammad Khan had to settle for fourth place with 11.53 percent votes. The security deposit of the Congress candidate was also confiscated in this election. In 2009, Congress candidate Ram Lal Rahi stood third. Rahi got 16.64 percent votes, his deposit was forfeited by just a few votes. Congress stood fourth in the 2014 general elections. Congress candidate Vaishali Ali got 2.83 percent votes. Congress candidate's security deposit confiscated. In the 2019 elections, Congress candidate Qaiser Jahan stood third by getting 9.01 percent votes. However she failed to save her deposit.

Hindusthan Samachar/Abhishek Awasthi/Manoj