Ghaziabad Lok Sabha elections 2024: Voting date, results, candidates, main parties, and schedule

UP Lok Sabha Polls 2024: In a strategic move ahead of the 2024 elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) nomination of Atul Garg as its candidate has stirred discontent within a segment of Thakur voters.

The Ghaziabad Lok Sabha constituency, historically dominated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been a stronghold for prominent leaders like Rajnath Singh and Gen V.K. Singh. However, in the upcoming 2024 elections, the BJP's decision to field Atul Garg as its candidate has sparked dissatisfaction among some Thakur voters.

The Ghaziabad parliamentary seat this time has 14 candidates in the fray and Garg's candidacy, representing the Vaish community, introduces a new dynamic to the electoral landscape. He faces significant competition from Dolly Sharma, a Brahmin, and Nandkishor Pundhir of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), representing the Thakur community.

The electoral scenario in Ghaziabad is further complicated by the presence of three relatives among the 14 candidates vying for the Lok Sabha constituency. Nand Kishor Pundir, his wife Kavita, and his nephew Abhishek Pundir are all contesting, with Kavita and Abhishek running as independent candidates.

The upcoming elections, scheduled for April 26, will test the BJP's stronghold in Ghaziabad, known as its "safest seat". With each successive election, the BJP has increased its vote share, solidifying its dominance in the constituency. The Ghaziabad Lok Sabha seat, which came into existence in 2008, includes assembly seats of Loni, Muradnagar, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, and Dhaulana, with a total of 29.02 lakh registered voters.

The BJP has held the Ghaziabad seat since 2009, with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh winning that year. Singh beat the Congress' Surinder Goyal by a wide margin.

In 2014, BJP fielded current Minister of State for Civil Aviation of India and former Army Chief General V.K. Singh who beat film actor Raj Babbar of the Congress.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP again bet on General Singh. This time, he received 61.93 percent of the votes, while his rival Samajwadi Party's (SP) Suresh Bansal trailed behind with only 29.06 percent vote share, while Congress slid to the third position.

Check Lok Sabha Elections 2024 Live Updates here