INDI alliance in Uttar Pradesh is banking on Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Laliteshpati Tripathi to win the Bhadohi Lok Sabha constituency, known internationally as a centre of carpet manufacturing.

SP president Akhilesh Yadav has given this Brahmin-dominated seat to the Trinamool Congress from his own quota to solidify his relationship with ‘didi’ (Mamata Banerjee).

Laliteshpati Tripathi is the great grandson of former UP Chief Minister late Kamlapati Tripathi.

The saffron camp has fielded Dr Vinod Kumar Bind, from the backward community, while BSP candidate Harishankar Singh Chauhan is also trying his best to show his strength in the field.

However, as per the early indications, the TMC candidate has the upper hand in the elections, to be held in the sixth phase on May 25.

The constituency has Brahmin majority and jailed politician Vijay Mishra is reportedly giving his support to the TMC candidate. Besides, a large chunk of votes from backward community voters along with Muslim community can pave the way for TMC’s victory.

As per the history of Bhadohi seat, the constituency is situated between Prayagraj and Varanasi district, where the elections were held for the first time on this newly formed seat in 2009. BSP’s Gorakhnath Pandey managed to win by securing 29.73 per cent vote share. However, the SP had given him a tough fight. SP’s Chhotalal Bind missed victory by a margin of just 12,963 votes.

The interesting thing is that Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey of BJP, now a sitting MP from Chandauli could manage only 57,672 votes. He had slipped to the fifth place, lagging behind Congress and Apna Dal.

In 2014, the tables completely turned during the Modi wave. Virendra Singh Mast, who contested from BJP, who had secured 8.76 per cent vote share in 2009, hoisted the saffron flag by securing 41.12 per cent vote share. Not only this, BSP’s vote share fell to 25.01 per cent and it slipped to second place.

This trend continued in 2019 also and Dr Ramesh Chand Bind of BJP not only won, but also increased the vote share to 49.07 per cent. But, what was also interesting was that BSP’s vote share also jumped to 44.87 per cent as it had an alliance with the SP.

The trend clearly says that in Bhadohi, caste based mobilisation remains the reality of victory and defeat in elections.

In the campaign trail, Laliteshpati Tripathi is busy wooing Brahmin, Yadav and Muslim voters. He is hopeful of victory through this equation. However, the weak aspect of Lalitesh is that the party and the symbol are not popular in the constituency. For this reason, SP earlier wanted him to contest him on its symbol (cycle).

If the politics of Bhadohi is mentioned, it is natural that the name of mafia and former MLA Vijay Mishra comes up. There is a rumour that Mishra has given the message from jail to support Lalitesh, which has strengthened Lalitesh’s camp.

The BJP along with the upper caste community of Kshatriyas and Vaishyas are also trying to break into Dalits. BJP is also hopeful of getting the votes of Dalits, because BSP candidate Harishankar Singh Chauhan does not seem to be successful in making an impression on the minds of Dalits.

Dr Vinod may have to suffer the loss of current BJP MP Ramesh Bind, who joined the SP. Ramesh Bind is contesting from Mirzapur on SP ticket and his supporters are lending strength to Lalitesh in Bhadohi.

BSP candidate Harishankar Singh Chauhan has been a District Panchayat member twice. He had contested the assembly elections in 2022, although he finished third.

Rajesh Pati Tripathi, father of Lalitesh from the prestigious political family, who had contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2004 on a Congress ticket from Mirzapur-Bhadohi seat, however, stood fourth. The family of former CM Kamalapati Tripathi is among the prestigious families of UP politics.

However the candidates, particularly of the ruling BJP are facing ire of the public during their campaigning. People of the carpet city are angry with the fact that Bhadohi district was created in June 1994 under the Mulayam Singh government, but no government took any interest in its development.

Though Bhadohi has been an international centre for carpet but still it lags behind in education and other development works. The headquarters of the district are still called a village while there is no proper bus station, people of the constituency alleged.

As per the caste equation, Brahmin has the highest number of 3.25 lakh voters followed by 3 lakh Bind, 2.50 lakh Muslims, 2.75 lakh Dalits, one lakh each of Kshatriya, Yadav, and Vaishyas among the total of over 20 lakh voters.