Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): After conclusion of three phases of Lok Sabha Elections, Ratlam constituency is all set to elect its Member of Parliament in the Pahse-4 on May 13. This time BJP’s Anita Nagar Singh and Congress stalwart Kantilal Bhuriya from Congress are giving a tough competition to each other.
Ratlam Lok Sabha constituency consists of eight assembly constituencies of Ratlam, Jhabua and Alirajpur districts.
Congress fields same candidate thrice
Interestingly, Congress has been putting its faith in the same candidate, Kantilal Bhuriya for three consecutive terms. Kantilal Bhuriya won the general elections in 2009 and after that he was defeated by BJP candidates twice in 2014 and 2019.
Caste Equations
Among 29 parliamentary constituencies, Ratlam is a ST (Scheules Tribe) dominated seat with a literacy rate of 41.36%. As per 2011 Caste Census, Ratlam consists of 73.4% of ST voters, whereas only 4.5% of them are SC. Also, 82.2% of the voters are rural and 17.8% of them are urban.
From the archives: Lok Sabha Elections 2019
In the Lok Sabha elections of 2019, there was a tight fight between BJP and Congress in which BJP candidate Guman Singh Damor won the seat with 6.94 lakh votes. However, the runner-up, Kantilal Bhuria from Congress was defeated by 89.8k votes, who secured 6.05 lakh votes. Approximately, 13.9 lakh voters participated in the elections of 2019.
Lok Sabha Elections 2014
In 2014 also, BJP candidate Dileepsingh Bhuriawon the constituency against Congress’s Kantilal Bhuria. Even if the two candidates belonged to the same community, Dileepsingh Bhuria garnered 5.45 lakh votes whereas, Kantilal Bhuria got 4.37 votes, leaving a margin of 1.07 lakh.
Lok Sabha Elections 2009
However, in 2009, Congress held the parliamentary seat after Kantilal Bhuriya garnered 3.08 lakh votes whereas, BJP’s Dileepsingh Bhuria could manage 2.51 lakh votes.
What do opinion polls say?
According to India TV-CNX opinion poll, BJP is likely to clinch all 29 parliamentary constituencies of Madhya Pradesh this election. BJP has been winning the Ratlam constituency for the last two terms and it is expected to retain the constituency for the third term as well.
Total voters
The total registered voters in 2024 sums-up to 13,97,455, including 9,29,035 men and 9,21,549 women. The results of Ratlam Lok Sabha constituency are to be declared on June 4.
