Ghazipur Lok Sabha Constituency: Candidates for 2019 LS poll, past results, all updates

Ghazipur is one of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh currently represented by three-term MP and Union Minister Manoj Sinha. He had defeated Shivkanya Kushwaha of Samajwadi Party by 32,000 votes. 

Sinha, currently the Minister of State (Independent Charge) in Ministry of Communications, has won from Ghazipur thrice 1996, 1999 and 2014. While Afzal Ansari won from here in 2004 on a Samajwadi Party (SP) ticket, Radhe Mohan Singh emerged victorious in 2009.

The Communist Party of India also has sizeable base in Ghaziapur and has won from here thrice - 1967, 1971 and 1991. 

This election, Sinha is pitted against Azfal Ansari, the brother of mafia-turned politician Mukhtar Ansari, who has been fielded by BSP. Congress' Ajit Pratap Kushwaha and CPI's Bhanu Prakash Pandey are also contesting.

While filing his nomination on April 25, Union minister Manoj Sinha had said developmental works, which the BJP has been doing, was necessary to end dynastic politics and casteism. 

"Dynastic politics, casteism and the tendency to loot public resources (lootwaad) are the three evils in the country," he said here. "To end these, it's necessary that developmental works continue, and the BJP is doing this," the Union Minister said. Union minister Gen (retired) VK Singh was also present on the occasion.

Ghazipur Lok Sabha constituency comprises five assembly segments: Jakhanian (SC), Saidpur (SC), Ghazipur, Jangipur and Zamania.

In the last parliamentary elections in 2014, the BJP had won 71 seats in the state, securing 42.63 per cent of the votes. BJP ally Apna Dal bagged two more. The Samajwadi Party had won five seats with a vote share of 22.35 per cent. The BSP did not win any seat but secured 19.77 per cent votes. The Congress registered wins on two UP seats in 2014, bagging 7.53 per cent of the votes. 

UP is facing a triangular battle between the BJP, the Congress and BSP-SP-RLD alliance. Under the alliance's seat-sharing formula, the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is contesting on 38 Lok Sabha seats of the total 80 seats, Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party on 37 seats and the Chaudhary Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) on three seats. The alliance has left two for Congress' Sonia Gandhi (Rae Bareli) and Rahul Gandhi (Amethi). 

In the seventh phase of Lok Sabha polling, 13 seats in Uttar Pradesh - Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushi Nagar, Deoria, Bansgaon, Ghosi, Salempur, Ballia, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur and Robertsganj - are going for polls.

In 2014 election, all of these 13 seats were won by the BJP with Prime Minister Narendra Modi securing his victory from Varanasi. 

The counting of votes of the Lok Sabha election 2019 will be conducted on May 23.