Jhansi: Five-way battle involves Uma Bharati, Pradeep Jain Aditya, Anuradha Sharma, Chandrapal Singh Yadav and Archana Gupta

By Prerna Katiyar
JHANSI: The Jhansi Lok Sabha election is a five-way, high-stakes battle involving Uma Bharati, who had to fight with the BJP leadership to win the right to contest from the constituency in Uttar Pradesh. The party had wanted her to stand from Rae Bareli instead, against Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Incumbent MP Pradeep Jain Aditya of Congress, also Union minister of state for rural development, says he’s confident of retaining the seat but Bharati says people are dissatisfied with the central government’s performance and will vote for her.

As for the Bahujan Samaj Party's Anuradha Sharma, who got the ticket after the death of her husband Ramesh Sharma, she feels people will elect her to end what she refers to as the goonda raj under Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party state government. The latter party’s Chandrapal Singh Yadav, who won in 2004, is relying heavily on rural votes and adding to the mix is Archana Gupta of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

In 2009, Jain beat the late Ramesh Sharma by a margin of 47,670 votes, while SP came third and BJP fourth. The BJP held sway over Jhansi from 1989 to 1999.
Experts say the election isn’t multi-cornered but a traditional BJP-versus-Congress fight this time.

"It’s advantage Uma as the backward caste is a big vote bank here. Being a Lodh herself, she has a good chance of winning," says Badri Narayan of the GB Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad.

Most people who plan to press the button for BJP said they were voting for its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi rather than the party candidate.
"I will vote for Uma Bharti this time, though it is because of Modi. In fact, I’ll vote for anyone of BJP this time," says Ravindra Sen, a BA final year student of political science and history at Bundelkhand University. Staff member Rajiv Senger echoes this sentiment, as do others.

Kumar Yashwant of Bundelkhand University’s Health Centre says, "We are looking at the Centre and not local politics. So it doesn’t matter who the BJP fields this time from Jhansi."

Jain, who has a Mr Clean image, scoffs at talk of a Modi wave. "Forget about Modi leher (wave), there isn’t even a chheet (droplet) here. Modi and his men are daydreaming, just as the baba of Unnao was about pots of gold," a reference to a holy man dreaming about gold being buried under a ruined fort.

‘Bijli, sadak, paani’ encapsulate Jhansi’s problems -- bad roads, long power cuts and water scarcity. The black cotton soil in the region is considered the most fertile in the country but there isn’t enough water for farming.

In Friends Cybercafe at Manik Chowk, in the heart of the walled city, the Internet connection is down but at least the ceiling fan is working. Power cuts last 8-10 hours daily even though the 1,140 MW Parichha Thermal Power Station is on the outskirts of Jhansi.

"Even if the city has a power plant, it is nearby big cities such as Lucknow and Kanpur that benefit from it," says the AAP candidate.

The BSP’s main campaign plank is the deterioration in law and order, says Abhinav Gaur, son of BSP candidate Anuradha Sharma.

"When we were in power in UP, we spent a lot of money on development while the ruling party has money only for Mahotsava and bashes," a reference to the recent event at Saifai, the base of the chief minister’s family.

While Sharma may get sympathy votes following the death of her MLA husband, the owner of Ayurvedic health medicine manufacturer Baidyanath, experts say she will have a tough time against Bharati.

Rohit Goswami, a college student, has no illusions about Bharati but will still be voting for her.

"Prior to jumping into parliamentary elections, she was an MLA from Charkhari (on the UP-MP border). She did almost nothing for that place. Now she has come here just for Lok Sabha polls. But... Jhansi will vote for Uma. Jhansi is all for Modi this time," he said, adding without being asked that he’s a Brahmin.

Talk on caste lines is not new to this part of the country. Upper castes — mostly Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas — constitute roughly a third of the population. OBCs form the largest proportion consisting of Kushwahas (peasant community), Lodhs (cultivators) and Yadavs (cattle breeders). SCs make up about 23 per cent and Muslims 9 per cent of the population.

Lower down the economic chain, politics doesn’t seem to be making much of an impact in some quarters.

"What Modi and what Uma? We just shake the kanastar (grain tin) to see if we have enough food for the day. That is what matters after all," says Taj Mohammed, of Barthari village. Still, the election means work for him. These days the daily wage earner is putting up posters and hoardings of political parties.

Fact File

Population: 20 lakh Urban Population: 41.70 per cent Rural Population: 58.30 per cent Sex Ratio: 890 (versus national average of 940) Average Literacy: 75 per cent

(Source: 2011 Census)

Demographics

- OBCs - 35-40 per cent - SC – 22 per cent - Muslim – 9 per cent - Forward Caste – Mainly, Brahmin, then Kshtriya, then Vaishya – 33 per cent

Jhansi parliamentary constituency election 2014 dates

• Issue of Notification: 2 April • Last Date for filing Nominations: 9 April • Scrutiny of Nominations: 10 April • Last date for withdrawal of Candidature: 12 April • Polling Date: 30 April • Counting of Votes: 16 May • Date before which the election shall be Completed: 28 May