Who is Pradeep Mathur, Congress candidate from UP’s Mathura constituency?

In the Assembly Election 2022, Mathura constituency of Uttar Pradesh is one of the handful places that can be called a ‘Congress stronghold’ – a term rarely used since 2014 in the Indian election context. The tag is safe owing to veteran Congressman Pradeep Mathur. 

He has presented Mathura in the Legislative Assembly four times previously. After first being elected in 1985, Mathur secured a hattrick of seats from 2002 to 2012. His 15-year service as a MLA was brought to an end in 2017, when incumbent Mathura MLA, BJP’s Shrikant Sharma swept the seat away by a margin of 101,161 votes.

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Mathur is fighting fit for the election race despite being an injured player. Earlier in January, he suffered multiple fractures on his left arm. Reminiscent of a spirit that is rare in politics now Mathur fought to get the orthopedic surgery postponed to February 11, a day after Mathura goes to poll, since it will require him to be hospitalised for at least a week. 

Running the risk of a gravely injured limb, he prioritized campaigning and try winning the election in 2022. The stakes of the UP election has not clearly been higher in the past few years.

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“Doctors found multiple fractures in my humerus (bone in upper arm) and suggested a procedure to fix it with plates and nuts. But that would have kept me away from electioneering for a week. I got it fixed temporarily and returned to campaigning,” he said.

He promptly added, “People have seen the work done by the BJP in the past five years and want a change. I am getting overwhelming support and with the love of the people, I hope to regain my seat,” sounding quite optimistic.

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There are barely any criminal records publicly found under his name. He was accused on one charge related to Mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees under Section-427 of the IPC, and one charge related to Punishment for Rioting under Section-147. He was convicted of none.

Mathur was born in Delhi and holds a graduate law degree from Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University. 

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The 66-year-old has Rs 8.8 crore in total assets and Rs 52.5 lakh in liabilities. His movable assets total Rs 2.2 crore, while his immovable assets total Rs 6.6 crore. He recorded Rs 8.2 lakh in self-income and Rs 20.3 lakh in total income.