What is common among union minister and Lok Jan Shakti Party’s Ram Vilas Paswan, Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan, BJP MP Kariya Munda and Jharkhand Mukti Morch chief Shibu Soren – all have won Lok Sabha elections for eight or more times from their respective constituency for nearly 40 years.
The USP behind these evergreen MPs is their consistent popularity among voters due to their strong ground connect, easy accessibility and readiness to troubleshoot problems faced by people. Over four decades, all these MPs have earned faith and respect of their electorates irrespective of their allegiance with any political party.
They are among 42 Lok Sabha MPs who have represented their constituency for five or more terms.
72-year-old Paswan, known as weather vane of politics, has won nine Lok Sabha terms from Hajipur in Bihar after being elected to the lower house for the first time in 1977 on the Janta Party ticket.
Paswan has changed his loyalty from the Congress-led UPA to the BJP-led NDA but his voters have more or less remained committed to him except in 2009 when he was defeated by JD (U) candidate Ram Sundar Das.
He was against elected to Lok Sabha from Hajipur in 2014 and the credit for this goes to his personal connect with people in the area. Now, he has decided to leave the seat for his younger brother Pashupati Paras, who is likely to contest on the party ticket from Hajipur.
The Dalit leader made his debut in politics as an MLA in 1969 on the ticket of then Socialist party. Thereafter, he joined the Lok Dal party in 1974 and was jailed for opposing the imposition of emergency in the country.
For eighth time BJP MP Kariya Munda from Khunti in Jharkhand, it is perhaps easy accessibility, his simplicity and flawless political career that makes this Padma awardee so popular among the people in the tribal dominated area.
The 82-year-old tribal leader is actively involved in social work and runs several schools, hospitals and orphanages in the region and his commitment to people finds admiration also in the opposition circles. A tribal face in the BJP, Munda has been voicing concerns regarding land rights of indigenous people.
In the list of evergreen MPs is another leader from Jharkhand — Shibu Soren. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha President Soren was elected for the eighth time as Member of Parliament from Dumka in 2014. He is considered as a savior among tribal people due his role in formation of Jharkhand, carved out from Bihar, in 2000.
Soren, who has served thrice as Jharkhand chief minister, is revered as ‘Guruji’ by tribal people in his constituency. He was charged and later acquitted by the Supreme Court in a murder case of his private secretary Shashi Nath Jha in 1994 but that has not diminished his popularity among his clan as they have faith in him.
The popularity of these MPs has grown so much that people know them more by sobriquets like ‘Guruji’ (teacher) in case of Soren and ‘Tai’ (elder sister) in the case of eight-time BJP MP Sumitra Mahajan.
The 75-year-old MP from Indore in Madhya Pradesh holds the unique distinction of being the only woman member of Parliament to get elected eight consecutive times from the same constituency and her impressive victory margins bear ample testimony to the immense popularity she enjoys.
The LS speaker enjoys a good rapport with people, especially women, in her constituency and is being lauded for her unblemished political career spanning over four decades. She is famous for personally taking initiative to look into problems faced by people and providing a helping hand.
Inputs from Mukesh Ranjan (Ranchi), Rajesh K Thakur (Patna), Anuraag Singh (Bhopal)