The Party that Wins Pandavas’ Capital Hastinapur Always Wins UP

From 1957 to 2012, the party that won this seat in Meerut went on to form the government in Uttar Pradesh.

Every major party’s election strategy focuses on a victory in Hastinapur, believed to be the capital of the mythological Pandavas. (Photo Courtesy: hinduhumanrights.info)

Election results, starting from as early as 1957, reveal that whichever party wins the Hastinapur seat in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district forms the government in the state. According to the Mahabharata, the town was once the capital of the Pandavas, and it thereby inevitably becomes loaded with symbolic relevance.

And thanks to its supposed electoral importance, every major party’s election strategy focuses on a victory in Hastinapur, reports The Times of India.

Mukesh Siddharth, a Shivpal Yadav supporter who resigned from the SP in December, said:

Though political pundits see this as a superstition, the truth is that the party which wins the Hastinapur seat goes on to form the government in the state.

Some reports place the Muslim population in the seat at 80,000, Gujjars at 50,000, Jats at 30,000, Thakurs at 25,000 and Bengalis, along with others, at 15,000. Hastinapur has been the only reserved seat for Scheduled Caste candidates in Meerut since 1967.

Despite the importance of Hastinapur in state elections, residents point out that it is neglected by parties once they are in power.

Both Hastinapur and Chandigarh were re-established by Jawaharlal Nehru, but one can see the difference of development in the two places. Hastinapur is nowhere on the country’s development map. It has been neglected by successive governments.

Vishambhar Das, Hastinapur Resident

The Congress won the seat in 1957 and went on to form the government in Uttar Pradesh. More recently, the Samajwadi Party replayed the same scenario in 2012.