Mandi (Lok Sabha constituency)

Mandi Lok Sabha constituency is one of the four Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Himachal Pradesh state in northern India. Ram Swarup Sharma(BJP) is current member of Lok Sabha from Mandi. Mandi Parliamentary constituency already emerged as a hot bed of politics where not only the BJP and the Congress will fight for their prestige, but is the only seat in the state where the Left front has popped up a candidate.^[1] The constituency was represented by Rani Amrit Kaur of the erstwhile Patiala state during 1952-57, while these areas of Himachal were still part of Punjab. In the Lok Sabha elections that followed in 1957, the seat was represented by Raja Joginder Sen of the erstwhile Mandi state, who represented the seat till 1962. In the following elections that year Raja Lalit Sen of Sundarnagar or the erstwhile Suket State was elected. He repeated his victory in the 1967 elections.

However, in period from 1977 to 1979, the constituency was represented by Ganga Singh who represented the Janata Party, which came to power at the centre immediately after the elections that followed the imposition of emergency in the country and the Congress, under Indira Gandhi was routed. He defeated Congress candidate Virbhadra Singh.

Then came along the man, who called himself the son-of-the-soil, Sukh Ram. He switched from state politics to the Parliament and won comfortably in 1985. In the next election, however, it was again another blue-blooded royal, Maheshwar Singh, scion of the erstwhile Kullu state who drubbed the son-of-the-soil at the polls.

But Sukh Ram bounced back and won again in 1994, but was expelled from the Congress a couple of years later, following the reported recovery of large amounts of cash from his residence. To re-establish his political dominion Sukh Ram floated Himachal Vikas Congress and came back into politics with a bang – winning five Assembly seats in 1998 along with wresting Shimla (reserved) parliamentary seat from the Congress in 1999. In 1998, Sukh Ram’s HVC under an alliance with the BJP supported the candidature of Maheshwar Singh, who won easily. In 2004, Congress candidate Pratibha Singh defeated Maheshwar Singh. In the last Parliament elections 2009, Congress candidate Virbhadra Singh defeated Maheshwar Singh by a very small gap.^[2]

Assembly segments

Mandi Lok Sabha constituency presently comprises the following 17 Vidhan Sabha (legislative assembly) segments:^[1]

Members of Parliament

• 1952: Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Indian National Congress
• 1957: Joginder Sen, Indian National Congress
• 1962: Lalit Sen, Indian National Congress
• 1967: Lalit Sen, Indian National Congress
• 1971: Virbhadra Singh, Indian National Congress
• 1977: Ganga Singh, Bharatiya Lok Dal
• 1980: Virbhadra Singh, Indian National Congress (Socialist)
• 1984: Sukh Ram, Indian National Congress
• 1989: Maheshwar Singh, Bharatiya Janata Party
• 1991: Sukh Ram, Indian National Congress
• 1996: Sukh Ram, Indian National Congress
• 1998: Maheshwar Singh, Bharatiya Janata Party
• 1999: Maheshwar Singh, Bharatiya Janata Party
• 2004: Pratibha Singh, Indian National Congress
• 2009: Virbhadra Singh, Indian National Congress
• 2013: Pratibha Singh, Indian National Congress(By Poll)
• 2014: Ram Swaroop Sharma, Bharatiya Janata Party

Election results

1951 election

1957 election

Stations and 2 Auxiliary polling staons are being set up in the Four Parliamentary Constituencies for Lok Sabha Elections – 2009 in the State. 1259 Pole been declared as sensitive while 708 polling Stations have been classified as Hypersensitive to ensure free and fair elections in the State. The maximum number of Hyper Sensitive Polling Stations is 197 in Kangra District, he added. However, the largest number of Polling Stations was 1921 in 2-Mandi Parliamentary Constituency, including the Auxiliary Polling Station in Jogindernagar Assembly Constituency.

See also

• Mandi district
• List of Constituencies of the Lok Sabha

References