Gorakshapeeth is the top seat of Nath sect. The aura of this seat has made Gorakhpur the power center of Uttar Pradesh. For the last three and a half decades, the entire country is watching the political activities of Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency. MP Ravi Kishan, who entered the election fray on BJP ticket with the 'khadau' of the seat, is on his way to becoming MP for the second time with the help of the same aura.

If we look at the statistics of parliamentary elections of Gorakhpur seat, Congress has dominated six times in the eight elections held till 1984. During this period, Congress had to lose this seat only twice. In 1967 to the then Mahant of Gorakshapeeth Digvijaynath and in the anti-emergency wave of 1977 to the Janata Party candidate Harikesh Bahadur.

After winning the 1984 elections, the Congress was desperate for victory in this parliamentary constituency and then for saving its deposit. In three elections from 1989 to 1996, the then Gorakshapeethadhiswar Mahant Avedyanath and in five elections from 1998 to 2014, the people elected the current peethadheeshwar Yogi Adityanath as their representative to the Parliament.

Before this, the then Mahant Digvijaynath had represented Gorakhpur parliamentary constituency in 1967 and after his demise in 1969, Mahant Avedyanath had represented Gorakhpur parliamentary constituency. Mahant Avedyanath returned to politics in the 1989 elections during the Ram Mandir movement. After that, the dominance of Gorakshapeeth started in Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency.

Mahant Avaidyanath had contested the 1989 elections as a candidate of the Hindu Mahasabha, after which he and his disciple Yogi Adityanath continued to fight and win, joining the ranks of BJP's top leaders.

If we talk about the last two Lok Sabha elections, the aura of Gorakshapeeth has helped BJP candidates win all the nine seats of Gorakhpur and Basti division. The credit for making this region a stronghold of the saffron camp goes to Gorakshapeeth. After Yogi Adityanath became the Chief Minister in 2017, the face of Gorakshapeeth may not be seen on the parliamentary seat, but if we exclude the one-year term of by-elections, then Ravi Kishan, the current MP from 2019, does not miss saying that he is contesting the elections under the guidance of Yogi Adityanath by calling himself a servant of Gorakshapeeth and one who serves by keeping the sandals of the Peeth.

On the other hand, the alliance candidates are once again seen engrossed in the aura of the temple, taking the example of the victory of SP candidate Praveen Nishad (currently BJP candidate from Sant Kabir Nagar) through caste equations in the 2018 by-elections. Ignoring the fact that in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, all the equations of SP failed and the Gorakhpur seat has come back to the saffron camp.

SP bets only on Nishad candidates

Considering it a Nishad dominated parliamentary constituency, SP has been trying its luck on Gorakhpur parliamentary seat through Nishad candidates. However, it has always proved ineffective in general elections. After the defeat of Nishad candidate Rambhual Nishad last time by Ravi Kishan, SP has once again adopted the old strategy and has once again fielded Nishad candidate Kajal in the election, but there is doubt on whether this move of SP will be successful because Nishad Party, which claims rights on the votes of Nishad community, is with Ravi Kishan due to being an ally of BJP.

On the other hand, Ravi Kishan is claiming that he will become an MP by keeping the sandals of Gorakshapeeth. He is claiming that this is the temple's seat and will remain the temple's. BJP and Ravi Kishan understand very well that faith in Gorakshapeeth has always destroyed caste equations. Hence, their strategy is to bring this parliamentary seat in their name once again by putting forward the same faith.

MPs associated with Gorakshapeeth

MP of the Year

1967 Mahant Digvijaynath

1970 Mahant Avedyanath(by-election)

1989 Mahant Avedyanath

1991 Mahant Avedyanath

1996 Mahant Avedyanath

1998 Yogi Adityanath

1999 Yogi Adityanath

2004 Yogi Adityanath

2009 Yogi Adityanath

2014 Yogi Adityanath