Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh): The 18th Lok Sabha polls will be held beginning April 19. There are 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh and so it is said that the nation's politics is decided from Uttar Pradesh only.
In the 74 years of the country's independence, there have been 15 Prime Ministers (PM), nine of whom have reached the Parliament by winning Lok Sabha seats from UP and held the reins for almost 54 years. Of these, six Prime Ministers, including Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, are originally from Uttar Pradesh. Nehru was elected as MP from Allahabad in UP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is an MP from Varanasi Lok Sabha seat in UP.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru: Political experts said Nehru became the PM in 1947. "But there were no elections held at that time. When India gained independence in 1947, voting was held in Congress for the post of PM, in which Sardar Patel got the maximum votes. After this, Acharya Kripalani got the maximum votes. But on the insistence of Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel and Acharya Kripalani withdrew their names. After which Jawaharlal Nehru was made the PM," they said.
After the implementation of the Constitution in 1950, Lok Sabha elections were held for the first time in 1951-1952 in which Nehru contested the election from Phulpur Lok Sabha seat in Allahabad and won and was elected as the first PM. After this, he won the Lok Sabha elections of 1957 and 1962 from Allahabad Lok Sabha seat and became PM. Nehru remained MP from Allahabad till his death in 1964.
Lal Bahadur Shastri: He held the reins for 18 months and died in Russia. After the death of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri became the second PM. Shastri also took oath as Prime Minister on 9 June 1964 after winning the election from Allahabad Lok Sabha seat. There was a war between India and Pakistan in 1965 when Shastri, born in 1904 in Mughalsarai, was the PM. He died under suspicious circumstances on the night of January 11, 1966, after signing an agreement to end the war with Pakistan Prime Minister Ayub Khan in Tashkent (Soviet Union).
Indira Gandhi: The first woman PM Indira Gandhi was an MP from Rae Bareli. Indira Gandhi was also a two-time MP from the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh. However, when she became PM on 24 January 1966, she was a Rajya Sabha member. A year later, in the Lok Sabha elections held in 1967, she won from the Rae Bareli seat. Similarly, in the elections held in 1971, she reached Parliament by winning the elections from the same seat. However, in the Lok Sabha elections held in 1977, Indira Gandhi lost from Rae Bareli seat to Rajnarayan and Congress could not form the government. In the Lok Sabha elections held in 1980, Congress contested the elections under the leadership of Gandhi and won the majority. This time, Indira Gandhi contested the elections from the Medak Lok Sabha seat of Andhra Pradesh along with Rae Bareli. This seat is now in Telangana. Indira Gandhi had left Rae Bareli seat after winning the elections from both places.
Chaudhary Charan Singh: He could remain PM only for 23 days. He was also an MP from Baghpat Lok Sabha seat of UP. Chaudhary Charan Singh, a farmer leader and several times MLA, was the PM from the Janata Party from 28 July 1979 to 14 January 1980. After the fall of Morarji Desai's government, Chaudhary Charan Singh became Prime Minister with the support of Indira Gandhi's party. But when it came to proving his majority, Indira Gandhi withdrew support and his government fell. Chaudhary Charan Singh resigned in 1979. However, he remained the acting Prime Minister till 14 January 1980.
Rajiv Gandhi: Rajiv Gandhi became PM by winning the elections from the Amethi seat. After the assassination of PM Indira Gandhi on 31 October 1984, her son Rajiv Gandhi became an MP by winning the Lok Sabha elections from Amethi. After this, in the general elections held in 1984, Congress won the highest number of 414 seats. Rajiv Gandhi became the PM after getting elected from the Amethi seat. Rajiv Gandhi's tenure lasted till 1989.
VP Singh: He was the Prime Minister for 11 months and 8 days. India's 9th Prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh was also elected MP from Fatehpur Lok Sabha seat. In the Lok Sabha elections held in 1989, Congress remained away from the majority figure. While VP Singh's Janata Dal got 146 seats. Later, VP Singh was elected PM with the support of BJP and Left parties.
Chandra Shekhar: Ballia MP Chandrashekhar had to resign from the post of PM within six months. Chandrashekhar, a native of Ballia, became the 10th PM. Chandra Shekhar remained PM from 10 November 1990 to 21 June 1991. In 1989, Chandra Shekhar contested polls from his home constituency Ballia and Maharajganj parliamentary constituency of Bihar and won from both places. Later he left Maharajganj seat.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee: He became PM for the first time for 13 days. For the first time in the 11th Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party government was formed and Vajpayee was made PM. In 1998, Vajpayee took over the reins of the 10th Prime Minister by winning from the Lucknow Lok Sabha seat. However, due to a lack of majority, Vajpayee could remain PM only for 13 days (16 May 1996-1 June 1996). After this, in the mid-term elections held, BJP got 167 seats and Vajpayee again became the PM by winning from the Lucknow seat, but due to lack of majority, this tenure also lasted only for 13 months (19 March 1998-19 October 1999). After this, in the Lok Sabha elections held in 1999, BJP again got 182 seats and with the help of alliance partners, Vajpayee remained the Prime Minister from 19 October 1999 to 22 May 2004. Vajpayee was elected as MP from the Lucknow seat.
Narendra Modi: He is contesting elections from the Varanasi seat to score a hat-trick of wins. PM Modi is the MP from Varanasi seat. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Modi contested from Vadodara in Gujarat and Varanasi in UP and won from both places. Modi left the Vadodara seat and retained Varanasi. In the 2019 elections, Narendra Modi was again elected MP from the Varanasi seat and was sworn in as PM for the second time.
