Amethi Lok Sabha constituency is in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It covers the entire Amethi district and was created in 1967. The seat has almost always been held by the Indian National Congress (INC), save for a half-dozen years in the late 1970s and late 1990s. Rahul Gandhi held the seat for the longest period, from 2004 to 2019, and the seat had also been held by his mother, father, and uncle.
Its first member of parliament (MP) was Vidya Dhar Bajpai of INC, who was reelected in 1971. In the 1977 election, Ravindra Pratap Singh of the Janata Party became its MP. Singh was defeated in 1980 by Sanjay Gandhi of the INC. He died in a plane crash later that year, and a 1981 by-election was won by his brother, Rajiv Gandhi. Gandhi represented the constituency until 1991, when he was assassinated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The by-election held that year was won by Satish Sharma of the INC, who was reelected in 1996. Sanjay Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) defeated Sharma in the 1998 election. The wife of Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, then represented the constituency from 1999 to 2004. She was succeeded by her son Rahul Gandhi. Amethi has thus been represented by four members of the Nehru–Gandhi family. However, this safe congress bastion was breached by Smriti Irani of BJP in 2019 general elections.
Vidhan Sabha segments
Presently, Amethi Lok Sabha constituency comprises five Vidhan Sabha (legislative assembly) segments: Tiloi, Salon, Jagdishpur, Gauriganj and Amethi. This constituency is surrounded by Bara Banki and Faizabad in the north, Rae Bareli to the west, Sultanpur to the east and Pratapgarh to the south.
| Constituency number | Name | Reserved for (SC/ST/None) | District |
|---|---|---|---|
| 178 | Tiloi | None | Amethi |
| 181 | Salon | SC | Raebareli |
| 184 | Jagdishpur | SC | Amethi |
| 185 | Gauriganj | None | Amethi |
| 186 | Amethi | None | Amethi |
Members of Lok Sabha
Keys:
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Vidya Dhar Bajpai | Indian National Congress | |
| 1971 | |||
| 1977 | Ravindra Pratap Singh | Janata Party | |
| 1980 | Sanjay Gandhi (Died mid-term) | Indian National Congress | |
| 1981 (By-election) | Rajiv Gandhi | ||
| 1984 | |||
| 1989 | |||
| 1991 | |||
| 1991 (By-election) | Satish Sharma | ||
| 1996 | |||
| 1998 | Sanjay Sinh | Bharatiya Janata Party | |
| 1999 | Sonia Gandhi | Indian National Congress | |
| 2004 | Rahul Gandhi | ||
| 2009 | |||
| 2014 | |||
| 2019 | Smriti Zubin Irani | Bharatiya Janata Party | |
Election results
General election 1967
Vidya Dhar Bajpai of the INC won the first election in 1967 and became Amethi’s first MP.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INC | Vidya Dhar Bajpai | 63,231 | 35.81 | ||
| BJS | Gokul Prasad Pathak | 59,566 | 33.74 | ||
| Independent | A. Wahid | 22,333 | 12.65 | ||
| SSP | A. P. Pandey | 17,213 | 9.75 | ||
| SWA | R. H. Singh | 9,883 | 5.60 | ||
| Margin of victory | 3,665 | 2.07 | |||
| Turnout | 188,666 | 37.34 | |||
| INC win (new seat) | |||||
General election 1971
Bajpai held the seat and represented the constituency in the Fifth Lok Sabha.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INC | Vidya Dhar Bajpai | 96,312 | 62.13 | +26.32 | |
| BJS | Gokul Prasad Pathak | 21,335 | 13.76 | −19.98 | |
| INC (O) | Wast Nabvi | 19,051 | 12.29 | N/A | |
| Bharatiya Kranti Dal | Kailash Nath Singh | 11,787 | 7.60 | N/A | |
| RRP | Basudev Shastri | 6,541 | 4.22 | N/A | |
| Margin of victory | 74,977 | 48.37 | +46.30 | ||
| Turnout | 160,395 | 30.05 | −7.29 | ||
| INC hold | Swing | +26.32 | |||
General election 1977
Ravindra Pratap Singh of the Janata Party represented the constituency in the Sixth Lok Sabha.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JP | Ravindra Pratap Singh | 176,410 | 60.47 | N/A | |
| INC | Sanjay Gandhi | 100,566 | 34.47 | −27.66 | |
| Independent | Abdul Wahid | 8,450 | 2.90 | N/A | |
| Independent | Badri Narain | 6,306 | 2.16 | N/A | |
| Margin of victory | 75,844 | 26.00 | −22.37 | ||
| Turnout | 302,826 | 48.59 | +18.54 | ||
| JP gain from INC | Swing | ||||
General election 1980
Sanjay Gandhi of the INC won the election, but he died in a plane crash later in the year forcing a by-election in 1981.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INC | Sanjay Gandhi | 186,990 | 57.11 | +26.64 | |
| JP | Ravindra Pratap Singh | 58,445 | 17.85 | −42.62 | |
| JP(S) | Mohd. Isa | 41,734 | 12.75 | N/A | |
| Independent | Mahavir Prasad | 12,295 | 3.76 | N/A | |
| Independent | Satya Narain Jaiswal | 7,339 | 2.24 | N/A | |
| Margin of victory | 128,545 | 39.26 | +13.26 | ||
| Turnout | 338,531 | 50.10 | +1.51 | ||
| INC gain from JP | Swing | +5.33 | |||
By-election 1981
Rajiv Gandhi, Sanjay’s brother, won the by-election and represented the constituency in the Seventh Lok Sabha.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INC | Rajiv Gandhi | 258,884 | 84.18 | +27.07 | |
| LKD | Sharad Yadav | 21,188 | 6.89 | N/A | |
| Margin of victory | 237,696 | 77.29 | +38.03 | ||
| Turnout | 307,523 | ||||
| INC hold | Swing | +27.07 | |||
General election 1984
Rajiv Gandhi held the seat and represented the constituency in the Eighth Lok Sabha. He was challenged by his sister-in-law Maneka Gandhi.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INC | Rajiv Gandhi | 365,041 | 83.67 | −0.51 | |
| Independent | Maneka Gandhi | 50,163 | 11.50 | N/A | |
| Margin of victory | 314,878 | 72.17 | −5.12 | ||
| Turnout | 446,289 | 60.25 | |||
| INC hold | Swing | −0.50 | |||
General election 1989
Rajiv Gandhi won a third term in the election and represented the constituency in the Ninth Lok Sabha. He was challenged by Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INC | Rajiv Gandhi | 271,407 | 67.43 | −16.24 | |
| JD | Rajmohan Gandhi | 69,269 | 17.21 | ||
| BSP | Kanshi Ram | 25,400 | 6.31 | ||
| Margin of victory | 202,138 | 50.22 | −21.95 | ||
| Turnout | 425,746 | 46.78 | |||
| INC hold | Swing | −16.24 | |||
General election 1991
Rajiv Gandhi won the election, but he was assassinated on 21 May 1991 a few days after the polling in Amethi and even before other rounds of polling were completed. Election process was postponed for a few days and votes were eventually counted in June 1991. He was declared winner after his death, but a bye-election had to be called.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INC | Rajiv Gandhi | 187,138 | 53.23 | −14.20 | |
| BJP | Ravindra Pratap | 75,053 | 21.35 | ||
| JD | Naeem | 54,680 | 15.55 | −1.66 | |
| Margin of victory | 112,085 | 31.88 | −18.34 | ||
| Turnout | 376,202 | 40.97 | −5.81 | ||
| INC hold | Swing | −14.20 | |||
By-election 1991
Satish Sharma of the INC won the election and represented the constituency in the Ninth Lok Sabha.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INC | Satish Sharma | 178,996 | 53.88 | +0.65 | |
| BJP | M. M. Singh | 79,687 | 23.99 | +2.64 | |
| Independent | R. Singh | 47,033 | 14.16 | ||
| Margin of victory | 99,309 | 29.89 | −1.99 | ||
| Turnout | 332,195 | ||||
| INC hold | Swing | +0.65 | |||
General election 1996
Satish Sharma held the seat and represented the constituency in the Tenth Lok Sabha.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INC | Satish Sharma | 157,868 | 38.81 | −15.07 | |
| BJP | Raja Mohan Singh | 117,725 | 28.94 | +4.95 | |
| SP | Choudary Mohd. Isa | 79,285 | 19.49 | ||
| Independent | Karnandan Singh Akela | 13,277 | 3.26 | ||
| Margin of victory | 40,143 | 9.97 | |||
| Turnout | 426,913 | 38.71 | |||
| INC hold | Swing | ||||
General election 1998
Sanjay Singh of the BJP won the election and represented the constituency in the Eleventh Lok Sabha.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BJP | Dr. Sanjay Sinh | 205,025 | 35.08 | ||
| INC | Satish Sharma | 181,755 | 31.10 | ||
| BSP | Mohd. Naim | 151,096 | 25.85 | ||
| Margin of victory | 23,270 | 3.98 | |||
| Turnout | 597,556 | 53.73 | |||
| BJP gain from INC | Swing | ||||
General election 1999
Sonia Gandhi, the wife of Rajiv Gandhi, won the election and represented the constituency in the Thirteenth Lok Sabha.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INC | Sonia Gandhi | 418,960 | 67.12 | ||
| BJP | Dr. Sanjay Sinh | 118,948 | 19.06 | ||
| BSP | Paras Nath Maurya | 33,658 | 9.43 | ||
| Independent | Mohammad Israr | 7,098 | 2.79 | ||
| Margin of victory | 300,012 | 48.06 | |||
| Turnout | 638,178 | 57.46 | |||
| INC gain from BJP | Swing | ||||
General election 2004
Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi’s son, won the seat and represented the constituency in the Fourteenth Lok Sabha.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INC | Rahul Gandhi | 390,179 | 66.18 | ||
| BSP | Chandra Parkash Mishra | 99,326 | 16.85 | ||
| BJP | Ram Vilas Vedanti | 55,438 | 9.40 | ||
| Independent | Sri Ram | 12,320 | 2.09 | ||
| AD | Udai Raj Maurya | 11,280 | 1.91 | ||
| Margin of victory | 290,853 | 49.33 | |||
| Turnout | 589,596 | 44.50 | |||
| INC hold | Swing | ||||
General election 2009
Rahul Gandhi held the seat and represented the constituency in the Fifteenth Lok Sabha.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INC | Rahul Gandhi | 464,195 | 71.78 | ||
| BSP | Asheesh Shukla | 93,997 | 14.54 | ||
| BJP | Pradeep Kumar Singh | 37,570 | 5.81 | ||
| JPS | Bhuwal | 10,396 | 1.61 | ||
| Independent | Swami Nath | 9,642 | 1.49 | ||
| Margin of victory | 370,198 | 57.24 | |||
| Turnout | 646,650 | 45.16 | |||
| INC hold | Swing | ||||
General election 2014
Rahul Gandhi won a third term as MP in the Sixteenth Lok Sabha.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INC | Rahul Gandhi | 408,651 | 46.71 | -25.07 | |
| BJP | Smriti Irani | 300,748 | 34.38 | +28.57 | |
| BSP | Dharmendra Pratap Singh | 57,716 | 6.60 | −7.94 | |
| AAP | Dr. Kumar Vishvas | 25,527 | 2.92 | N/A | |
| NOTA | None of the Above | 1,784 | 0.20 | N/A | |
| Margin of victory | 1,07,903 | 12.33 | −32.83 | ||
| Turnout | 8,74,872 | 52.39 | +7.22 | ||
| INC hold | Swing | −26.82 | |||
General election 2019
Smriti Irani from the BJP won in the Seventeenth Lok Sabha.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BJP | Smriti Zubin Irani | 468,514 | 49.71 | +15.33 | |
| INC | Rahul Gandhi | 413,394 | 43.84 | -2.85 | |
| Independent | Dhruv Lal | 7,816 | 0.83 | New | |
| BMP | Afajal Varis | 6,183 | 0.66 | +0.48 | |
| IND. | Ram Sajiwan | 5,616 | 0.60 | +0.33 | |
| NOTA | None of the Above | 3,940 | 0.42 | +0.22 | |
| Margin of victory | 55,120 | 5.85 | -6.48 | ||
| Turnout | 9,42,956 | 54.08 | +1.69 | ||
| BJP gain from INC | Swing | +3.00 | |||