ASSESSING SOM PRAKASH'S PERFORMANCE AS HOSHIARPUR MP

Hoshiarpur belongs to the Mahabharata -period. It is said that 5000 years ago a ruler of Pandava dynasty had performed such a yajna here in which all snakes of the world were sacrificed.

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Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha seat of Punjab is important in many ways. BSP founder Kanshi Ram had also contested elections from here and reached Parliament.

Presently Som Prakash of BJP is MP from here. He is Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry in the Modi Cabinet. He took premature retirement from IAS to join BJP. He contested from Hoshiarpur seat in 2009 Lok Sabha elections on BJP ticket but lost. Subsequently, he contested Assembly elections from Phagwara seat in 2012 and emerged victorious. He again won from this seat in 2017.

A Dalit face in Doaba region of Punjab, Som Prakash has managed to establish his hold in the party.

It has not been easy for any political party to register victory here.

Every time the electors of this Lok Sabha seat have handed over mandate to different parties. Especially in the general elections from 1996 to 2014, the same party has never got a second chance. Earlier this seat was held by Congress.

But now BJP's hold on this seat has strengthened.

The pace of development is very slow in Hoshiarpurok Sabha. Development has been a big issue for voters here. The victory and defeat of a candidate is decided on the basis of development.

Here, for the second time, an MP can win only if the report card of his work is correct. Development is now visible little by little in all the assemblies. There are 9 assembly seats in this Lok Sabha, while there are about 16 lakh voters in Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha seat.

The voting pattern on this seat has been based on development but the game of caste card also runs rampant here.