Mandi (Lok Sabha constituency)

Mandi Lok Sabha constituency (Hindi: मंडी लोकसभा निर्वाचन क्षेत्र) is one of the four Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Himachal Pradesh state in northern India. Ram Swaroop Sharma, representing BJP is current member of Lok Sabha from Mandi.

Mandi

Ram Swaroop Sharma
Existence	1952 - present
Reservation	none
Current MP	Ram Swaroop Sharma
Party	Bharatiya Janata Party
Elected Year	2014
State	Himachal Pradesh
Most Successful Party	Indian National Congress (12 times)

History

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 then was named as Mandi -Mahasu was represented by Rani Amrit Kaur of the erstwhile Patiala state and Sh Gopi Ram Mandi during 1952-57. 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]

1. Bharmour
2. Lahaul & Spiti
3. Manali
4. Kullu
5. Banjar
6. Anni
7. Karsog
8. Sundernagar
9. Nachan
10. Seraj
11. Darang
12. Jogindernagar
13. Mandi
14. Balh
15. Sarkaghat
16. Rampur
17. Kinnaur

Members of Parliament

Year	Winner	Party
1952	Gopi Ram	Indian National Congress
1952^	Rajkumari Amrit Kaur	Indian National Congress
1957	Raja Joginder Sen Bahadur	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
2014	Ram Swaroop Sharma	Bharatiya Janata Party
2019	Ram Swaroop Sharma	Bharatiya Janata Party

^ by poll

Election results

1951 election

General Election, 1951: Mandi

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC	Amrit Kaur	47,152	26.89
	INC	Gopi Ram	41,433	26.63
	KMPP	Tej Singh	19,872	11.33
	SCF	Anokhi Ram	18,988	10.83
	Socialist	Muni Lal	16,780	9.57
	BJS	Hari Dutt	12,053	6.87
	Independent	Kahan Singh	19,099	10.89
Majority
Turnout
	INC win (new seat)

1957 election

General Election, 1957: Mandi

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC	Joginder Sen Bahadur	57,530	63.47
	CPI	Mast Ram	0	00.00
	Independent	Anand Chand	33,110	36.53
Majority
Turnout
	INC hold		Swing

1962 election

General Election, 1962: Mandi

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC	Lalit Sen	46,856	63.56
	SWA	Ambika Kumari	20,600	27.95
	BJS	Kuldip Singh	2,742	3.72
	Independent	Tej Singh	3,516	4.77
Majority
Turnout
	INC gain from SWA		Swing

1967 election

General Election, 1967: Mandi

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC	Lalit Sen	62,596	51.65
	Independent	I. Singh	28,331	23.38
	Independent	D.S.Ram	26,877	22.18
	Independent	N.D. Joshi	3,377	2.79
Majority
Turnout
	INC gain from [[|N/A]]		Swing

1971 election

General Election, 1971: Mandi

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC	Virbhadra Singh	1,14,957	71.95
	LRP	Mandhar Lal	25,780	16.14
	INC (O)	Gauri Prashad	6,344	3.97
	Independent	Nawal Thakur	4,914	3.08
	Independent	Mahavr Prashad	4,587	0.87
	Independent	Tulsi Ram	3,182	1.99
Majority
Turnout
	INC gain from LRP		Swing

1977 election

General Election, 1977: Mandi

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Ganga Singh	1,38,143	53.19	Bharatiya Lok Dal
		Virbhadra Singh	1,02,638	39.52	Indian National Congress
	CPI (M)	Tara Chand	8,950	3.45
	Independent	Nawal Thakur	7,817	3.01
	Independent	Ani Rudh	2,167	0.83
Majority
Turnout
	BLD gain from INC		Swing

1980 election

General Election, 1980: Mandi

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	IC(S)	Virbhadra Singh	1,66,949	56.60
	JP	Ganga Singh	1,08,595	36.82
	JP(S)	Bhagat Guru	12,544	4.25
	Independent	Puran Mal	4,626	1.57
	Independent	Naval Thakur	2,255	0.76
Majority
Turnout
	IC(S) gain from BLD		Swing

1984 election

General Election, 1984: Mandi

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC	Sukh Ram	2,24,146	67.52
	BJP	Madhukar Singh	92,495	27.86
	INC(J)	Nand Singh	3,817	1.15
	JP	Het Ram	2,331	0.70
	Independent	Kamal Kishore	2,921	0.88
	Independent	Narpat Ram Chauhan	2,616	0.79
	Independent	Nawal Thakur	2,453	0.74
	Independent	Durga Singh Rathore	1,194	0.36
Majority			1,31,651	39.66
Turnout			3,31,973
	INC gain from IC(S)		Swing

1989 election

General Election, 1989: Mandi

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	BJP	Maheshwar Singh	2,34,164	50.36
	INC	Sukh Ram	2,06,095	44.33
	CPI (M)	D.N. Kapoor	9,736	2.09
	Doordarshi Party	O.M. Prakash	5,510	1.19
	BSP	Dharam Singh	4,489	0.97
	JP	Naval Thaur	3,423	0.74
	Independent	Raj Kumar	1,530	0.33
Majority			28,069	6.03
Turnout			4,64,947
	BJP gain from INC		Swing

1991 election

General Election, 1991: Mandi

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC	Sukh Ram	2,33,380	49.70
	BJP	Maheshwar Singh	2,06,753	44.03
	JD	Karam Singh	18,112	3.86
	SHS	Subh Ram Thakray	790	0.15
	Doordarshi Party	Om Prakash	3970	0.85
	JP	Prem Singh Thakur	2,829	0.60
	Independent	Om Dutt Sharma	1,954	0.37
	Independent	Krishan Lal Sharma	1049	0.20
	Independent	Amar Nirogotra	936	0.18
	Independent	Nawal Thakur	768	0.15
	Independent	Gian Chand Paniala	739	0.14
	Independent	Jeevan Parkash Sharma	695	0.13
	Independent	Brikam Ram	449	0.09
	Independent	Ramesh Kumar Garla	294	0.06
Majority			26,627	5.67
Turnout			4,72,718
	INC gain from BJP		Swing

1996 election

General Election, 1996: Mandi

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC	Sukh Ram	3,28,186	62.44
	BJP	Adan Singh Thakur	1,74,963	33.29
	SP	Ganga Singh	6,460	1.23
	SHS	Subh Ram Thakray	790	0.15
	AIIC(T)	Chandermani Sharma	3,717	0.71
	Independent	Amar Nirgotra	4,608	0.88
	Independent	Kanshi Ram	1,954	0.37
	Independent	Devender Sharma	1049	0.20
	Independent	Bal Krishan	936	0.18
	Independent	Diwan Chand Gupta	768	0.15
	Independent	Ramesh Chand Gautam	739	0.14
	Independent	Jeevan Parkash Sharma	695	0.13
	Independent	Brikam Ram	449	0.09
	Independent	Ramesh Kumar Garla	294	0.06
Majority			1,53,223	29.15
Turnout			5,25,608
	INC gain from BJP		Swing

1998 election

General Election, 1998: Mandi

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	BJP	Maheshwar Singh	3,04,210	62.44	+29.15
	INC	Pratibha Singh	1,72,378	35.38	-27.06
		Sukh Ram	8,304	1.70
	SJP(R)	Dina Nath	1,265	0.26
	Independent	Amar Nirgotra	1081	0.22
Majority			1,31,832	27.06	+2.09
Turnout			4,90,660
	BJP gain from INC		Swing

1999 election

General Election, 1999: Mandi

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	BJP	Maheshwar Singh	3,25,929	62.05	-0.39
	INC	Kaul Singh	1,94,904	37.11	+1.73
	NCP	Ravi Thakur	3,657	0.7
	Independent	Amar Nirgotra	750	0.14	-0.07
Majority			1,31,025	24.94	-2.22
Turnout			5,28,636	54.56
	BJP gain from INC		Swing

2004 election

General Election, 2004: Mandi

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC	Pratibha Singh	357,623	53.41	+16.30
	BJP	Maheshwar Singh	291,057	43.47	-18.58
	BSP	Mohan Lal Sahni	8,671	1.30
	Independent	Shah Mohammad	8,076	1.21
	Independent	Kashmir Singh Guleria	4,125	0.62
Majority			66,566	9.94	-15.00
Turnout			669,552	62.91	+8.35
	INC gain from BJP		Swing

2009 election

General Election, 2009: Mandi

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC	Virbhadra Singh	3,40,973	47.82	-5.59
	BJP	Maheshwar Singh	3,26,976	45.85	+2.38
	BSP	Lala Ram	10,131	1.42	+0.12
	CPI (M)	DR. ONKAR SHAD	20,664	2.89
	RWS	Hookam Chand Shastri	7,877	1.10
	Independent	Shan Mohammad	6,405	0.89
Majority			13,997	1.97	-7.97
Turnout			7,13,026	64.09	+1.18
	INC hold		Swing

2013 By-election

Bye-election, 2013: Mandi

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC	Pratibha Singh	3,53,492	60.71	+12.89
	BJP	Jai Ram Thakur	2,16,765	37.23	-8.63
	Independent	Subhash Mohan Snehi	6,057	1.04	+1.04
	PRISM	Lawan Kumar	5,932	1.02	+1.02
Majority			1,36,727	23.48	+21.52
Turnout			5,82,249	51.80	-12.29
	INC hold		Swing	+12.89

2014 election

2014 Indian general elections: Mandi

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	BJP	Ram Swaroop Sharma	3,62,824	49.94	+12.71
	INC	Pratibha Singh	3,22,968	44.46	-16.25
	CPI (M)	Kushal Bhardwaj	13,965	1.92	+1.92
	AAP	Jai Chand Thakur	9,359	1.29	+1.29
	BSP	Lala Ram	5,167	0.71	+0.71
	NOTA	None of the above	6,191	0.85	+0.85
Majority			39,856	5.48	-18.00
Turnout			7,26,094	63.12	+11.33
	BJP gain from INC		Swing	-10.77

2019 Election

2019 Indian general elections: Mandi

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	BJP	Ram Swaroop Sharma	6,47,189	68.75
	INC	Aashray sharma	2,41,730	25.68
	CPI (M)	Daleep Singh Kaith	14,838	1.58
	BSP	Ses Ram	9,060	0.96
	NOTA	None of the Above	5,298	0.56
Majority			4,05,459	43.07
Turnout			9,43,148	73.60
	BJP hold		Swing

Stations and 2 Auxiliary polling stations 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

1. "Parliamentary Constituency Wise Result of H.P. of Lok Sabha Elections-2009" (PDF). Chief Electoral Officer, Himachal Pradesh website. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
2. "Mandi Parliamentary Constituency". Himvani.