Lok Sabha Election 2024: Tough Fight for Hema Malini in Mathura

Mathura will go for polls on April 26. Ahead of which, candidates of all parties are trying to woo voters with tall promises. This time, the electoral contest here is between BJP MP Hema Malini, Congress candidate Mukesh Dhangar and BSP's Suresh Singh.

Mathura:Voting for Mathura Lok Sabha seat will be held in the second phase on April 26. Sitting BJP MP, Hema Malini, who is looking for a hattrick is pitted against Mukesh Dhangar of Congress-Samajwadi alliance and BSP candidate Suresh Singh.

There are five Assembly seats in Mathura Lok Sabha constituency. All five seats are being run by BJP MLAs since 2022 and the saffron party has fielded MP Hema Malini for the third time. With Jats comprising a major portion of the population, BJP is hoping to cash in on Hema Malini since her husband, actor Dharmendra is known to be the biggest icon of Jat community.

There are 19,23,263 voters in the district of which, 10,28,840 are males and 8,94,362 females. A total of 15 candidates including three from the major political parties are contesting from here.

Mathura is a Jat-dominated constituency and its figure is around 4,37,654. This Lok Sabha seat has an interesting caste equation. Brahmin voters are 3,07, 612, Kshatriya 2,27,889 and Vaishyas 1,54,793. Yadav comprise 45,287, Gurjars 45,998, Lodhis 27,552, Baghels 49,52, Jatavs 2,30,628, Khatiks 18,814, Koris 20,519, Dhobis 18,777, Valmikis 55,224 voters. This apart, there are a total of 1,56,397 minority voters of which, Sikhs are 1436, Christians 1897 and Punjabis 2,000.

The ancient name of Mathura is Madhupura and is known as the birthplace of Lord Krishna. The district is famous for its temples in Mathura, Govardhan Barsana, Nandgaon, Gokul Mahavan and Vrindavan. After formation of the BJP-led government in 2017, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has declared many places in Mathura as religious spots and banned the sale of meat and liquor within 500 metres of temples.

For the last few years, protests and demonstrations regarding Yamuna purification have been carried out at the grassroot level and the issue has always surfaced during the elections. Be it Lok Sabha elections or Assembly elections, promises are made regarding purification of Yamuna though nothing much has been done in this regard.

Another important issue that always come to the fore before any election is demand for reopening the Chhata Sugar Mill on Agra Delhi Highway. The mill was closed in 2009 following losses. Presently, the state government has initiated the tender process regarding its reopening and has assured to begin operations soon.

Next comes the problem of traffic congestion that crores of devotees encounter on the major roads of Mathura and Vrindavan. If we talk about industries in the district, every political party makes promises of providing employment. The Indian Oil Corporation Refinery unit on Mathura Agra Delhi Highway, is one of the major industry here which was established in 1980 by former PM late Indira Gandhi.

There are other industries namely taps, garments and a unit of PepsiCo Company. However, no new units have been established in the last 10 years rising questions on lack of employment opportunities here.

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