Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh is a reserved constituency for Scheduled Caste candidates and comprises the five assembly seats of Kursi, Zaidpur, Haiderbagh, Barabanki Sadar, and Ramnagar.
Barabanki, once considered a Congress stronghold, saw the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) establish their strong bases over time. In the 17 Lok Sabha elections conducted here, the Congress emerged victorious six times, while the BJP secured victory thrice.
This year, Barabanki witnessed a significant turn of events when the BJP's sitting Member of Parliament, Upendra Singh Rawat, withdrew from the election race following the circulation of an alleged obscene video. Consequently, the BJP nominated District Panchayat President Rajrani Rawat as its candidate. Rajrani Rawat is contesting the Lok Sabha elections for the second time. She had contested in 2014 on an SP ticket but was defeated.
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In a strategic move, the Congress-SP alliance has aimed to appeal to the youth by fielding Tanuj Punia, son of Dalit leader PL Punia, who is contesting the seat for the second time on a Congress ticket. In 2009, PL Punia won the seat to become the first Congress candidate to win the seat since 1984. Tanuj Punia, who contested as the Congress candidate in the previous elections, is now running as the SP-Congress candidate.
In the 2019 elections, BJP’s Upendra Singh Rawat clinched victory with a margin of 1.10 lakh votes, defeating SP's Ram Sagar Rawat and Congress’ PL Punia. Notably, the election witnessed a joint effort from the SP and the Bahujan Samajwadi Party.
This year, the Congress and SP have come together to contest against the BJP, with SP leader Ram Sagar Rawat also seeking votes for his opponent, PL Punia’s son Tanuj Punia.
Barabanki goes to polls on May 20 in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections, while counting is due on June 4 along with the rest of the country.
| Candidate Name | Party |
| Rajrani Rawat | BJP |
| Tanuj Punia | SP-Congress alliance |
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