Parliamentary Constituency of BhopalParliamentary Constituency of Bhopal

Bhopal Lok Sabha/Parliamentary constituency is one among 29 Lok Sabha constituencies in the Malwa north region of Madhya Pradesh in Central India. The city general constituency has an estimated scheduled tribe population of 2.56% and a scheduled caste population of 14.83%. The approximate literacy level is 79.89% in Bhopal. There were a total of eligible electors, and the turnout is calculated in percentage in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. 

In the 2014 parliamentary constituency election, Alok Sanjar of BJP won the seat by defeating the Indian National Congress candidate on the verge of 3,70,696 votes which was 34.88% of the entire votes polled in the constituency. There were a total number of 28 contestants in 2014. 

In 2009 Bhartiya Janata Party’s candidate, Kailash Joshi  BJP, came out victorious in the seat by defeating the Indian National Congress candidate on the verge of 65,157 votes which was 9.89% of the total votes polled. BJP had a total vote sharing of 50.95% in 2009. There were a total number of 23 contestants in 2009. 

Previous election stats of Bhopal Lok Sabha Constituency

 (Pic Credit- India Today)

PartyCandidateVotes%+-%
BJPSadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur8,66,48261.54-1.65
INCDigvijay Singh5,01,66035.63+5.24
BSPMadho Singh Ahirwar11,2770.80+0.10
NOTANone of the above5,4300.39-0.06
Majority3,64,82225.91-6.89
Turnout14,08,66965.75+7.99
BJP holdSwing -1.65

The above table shows the election status of the 2019 results. BJP candidate Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur won by a total number of 8,66,482 votes. Digvijay Singh got defeated and scored 5,01,660 votes in the Indian National Congress party. The majority was 3,64,822 votes, and the turnout was 14,08,669, which was 25.91% and 65.75%, respectively.

Pragya Singh Thakur: The voice of the Bhopal Lok Sabha Constituency

(Thakur- Pic Credit-Hindustan Times)

Pragya Singh Thakur was born on February 2 ,1970. She is an Indian Politician and Member of Parliament representing Bhopal and belongs to the Bhartiya Janata party. She was an active member of ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad) and, after that, joined several affiliate organisations of the RSS ( Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh). 

Thakur was liable for the 2008 Malegaon Bombing, where 10 persons were killed, and 82 were injured. She got arrested on terror charges after her bike was found to be used in the bomb blast. She is now under various unlawful activities (Prevention) charges. Pragya got bail in 2017 under health conditions after the National Investigation Agency dropped some serious charges. 

Thakur contested the 2019 Indian general election from the Bhopal constituency going against Digvijay Singh of the Indian National Congress. 

Pragya Singh Thakur became a part of 21 Member Parliament Consultative Committee on defence, headed by Rajnath Singh, the Defence Minister. The opposition criticised her for stating that Nathuram Godse is a patriot. She was removed from BJP parliamentary party meetings and the Defence committee. 

Thakur was a member of the Durga Vahini women’s section of the Hindu Organisation Bajrang Dal. She is also the originator of Vande Mataram Jan Kalyan Samiti. 

Malegaon Bombings of 2008

Bhopal Parliamentary Constituency
Pragya Singh Thakur/Pic Credit- India Today

Arrest and trial

According to the Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), Thakur formed a group to take revenge for the 2006 Mumbai train bombings, where it was said that her bike was used to bomb blast. This bike was the main evidence for her arrest. Maharashtra police filed 4000 pages charge sheet for the Malegaon blast on January 19, 2009.

On the report of the charge sheet, Lt Col Prasad Purohit was declared to be the main conspirator who supplied the explosives, and Thakur set out the group who planted the explosives. However, the charges by the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act fell for Thakur in July 2009. Thakur directly or indirectly stated that she is being tortured by ill-treatment in prison. After that Human Rights Commission order an investigation and found no evidence in these claims. The case of torture was closed.

When was the first Parliamentary Election held in Bhopal?

(Pic Credit – ANI)

The first parliamentary constituency election was held on 1952. The winners are Saidullah Razmi and Chatur Narain Malviya of Indian National Congress. Razmi was elected from the Sehore constituency of the state Bhopal.

Catalogue of MP of Parliamentary Constituency of Bhopal

Madhya Bharat State

YearCandidateParty
1952Saidullah Razmi

Chatur Narain Malviya

Indian National Congress

Madhya Pradesh State 

1957Maimoona SultanIndian National Congress
1962Maimoona SultanIndian National Congress
1967Jagannath Rao JoshiBhartiya Jana Sangh
1971Shankar Dayal SharmaIndian National Congress
1977Arif BegBhartiya Lok Dal
1980Shankar Dayal SharmaIndian National Congress (Indira)
1984K N PradhanIndian National Congress
1989Sushil Chandra VermaBhartiya Janata Party
1991Sushil Chandra VermaBhartiya Janata Party
1996Sushil Chandra VermaBhartiya Janata Party
1998Sushil Chandra VermaBhartiya Janata Party
1999Uma BhartiBhartiya Janata Party
2004Kailash JoshiBhartiya Janata Party
2009Kailash JoshiBhartiya Janata Party
2014Alok SanjarBhartiya Janata Party
2019Pragya Singh ThakurBhartiya Janata Party

READ ALSO: Parliamentary Constituency of Allahabad

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *