Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Yogesh Dharma has won the Baghpat assembly constituency by defeating his close rival Mohd Ahmed Hameed of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) by a margin of 6,733 votes.

Baghpat assembly constituency has Yogesh Dhama of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) taking on Ahmad Hameed of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Arun Kasana of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Anil Dev Tyagi of the Congress this year in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. 

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Yogesh Dhama had won the Baghpat seat in 2017, when the BJP swept Uttar Pradesh winning 312 of UP’s 403 assembly seats. Dhama had beaten his closest rival Ahmed Hameed by over 30,000 votes. Ahmad Hameed had contested that election on a BSP ticket.

In 2012, the seat was won by Hemlata Chaudary of the BSP. 

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Baghpat falls under Baghpat district and the Baghpat Lok Sabha constituency, which is made up of five assembly seats – three of these are in Baghpat district and two in other districts. 

Baghpat was for long seen as a stronghold of RLD founder Ajit Singh, who died of Covid last year at the age of 82. Ajit Singh represented Baghpat for many years as a member of Parliament but was defeated in 2014 by Dr Satya Pal Singh of the BJP. 

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Dr Satya Pal Singh defeated Ajit Singh’s son, Jayant Chaudhary, in 2019. Jayant Chaudhary leads the RLD now. 

The Baghpat assembly constituency will vote in the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections on February 10, 2022, along with 57 other constituencies in 11 districts. Uttar Pradesh will vote in seven rounds, with the last round on March 3. 

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Results will be declared on March 10, along with those for elections in four other states, including neighbouring Uttarakhand.   

Quick facts about the Baghpat Assembly seat   

Name of the assembly constituency, district: Baghpat, Baghpat district 

Polling date: February 10, 2022

Phase: 1 

Sitting MLA, party: Yogesh Dhama, BJP

Key candidates, party in 2022: Yogesh Dhama (BJP), Ahmad Hameed (RLD), 

Arun Kasana (BSP) 

Winning candidate, party in 2017: Yogesh Dhama,BJP

Runner-up name, party 2017: Ahmed Hameed,  BSP

Winning margin in 2017: 21349 

Top 3 candidates 2017: Yogesh Dhama (BJP), Ahmed Hameed (BSP), Kartar Singh Bhadana (RLD) 

Top 3 candidates 2012: Hemlata Chaudhary (BSP), Kawkab Hameed Khan (RLD), Sahab Singh (SP)

Lok Sabha constituency: Baghpat   

Research by Ashni
Varghese MV