Pilibhit Lok Sabha constituency, UP: Jitin Prasada vs Bhagwat Gangwar vs Anis Khan in key contest

Pilibhit Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh is one of the key seats in the state, which sends 80 MPs to the lower house of Parliament. There are nearly 18 lakh voters in the constituency. Voting in Pilibhit will be held in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections on April 19.

The constituency has been represented by BJP MP Varun Gandhi or his mother and BJP leader Maneka Gandhi since 1996. However, this time, BJP chose UP cabinet minister and BJP leader Jitin Prasad over sitting Pilibhit MP Varun Gandhi. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Varun Gandhi had received a record 7 lakh votes.

Prasada is pitted against Samajwadi Party's (SP) Bhagwat Saran Gangwar, a five-time MLA from Nawabganj (Bareilly district), and Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) Anis Ahmed Khan, both former ministers. Now, the time will tell if Prasada, also a former Congress MP, will be able to retain BJP seat in Pilibhit. SP has never won the seat.

As per the seat-sharing pact, SP is contesting 62 seats in Uttar Pradesh, Congress is contesting 17 seats while the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has been given one seat. Besides Pilibhit, seven other constituencies namely Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Nagina, Moradabad and Rampur will go to the polls on April 19.

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