‘Indira Gandhi’ still present, surviving in ex-PM’s bastion

RAE BARELI: Unlike her famous namesake, life poses stiff and fresh challenges virtually every day to 41-year-old Indira Gandhi, a resident of village Kaluhee Benikama in Rae Bareli’s Unchahar assembly constituency, located almost 25 kilometres from the district headquarters. However, instead of seeking sympathy and favour from those visiting her humble set-up, Indira Gandhi greets the visitors with a broad smile, while her 45-year-old husband Chhabbu looks on.
Recalling how she was named Gandhi by her parents, Indira said, “I was the youngest among my siblings, and hence my family members lovingly started calling me Gandhi. Then, all of a sudden Indira was affixed to my name, and since then, I am called Indira Gandhi.” She further stated that initially she disliked being referred to Indira Gandhi, but eventually got accustomed to it. “Initially, I preferred to be called as Gandhi only. But, as people started addressing me as Indira Gandhi, I subsequently started to respond to them,” she said.
Along with Indira and Chhabbu, lives her mother Ram Dulari, who is busy separating the husk from the paddy crop. And the mere news of any visitor coming to their place is strong enough to give her jitters, as she often confuses them with a police search party.
It is only after the neighbours tell her the actual identity of the visitors that she heaves a sigh of relief, and continues with her routine work.
Speaking to TOI, Indira Gandhi said, “We are daily wage farm labourers working in different fields, though we own 15-16 biswa of agriculture land. We earn barely Rs 100 per day, and that too during availability of work.” She further stated that her family members are yet to be paid the MNREGS wages of last year.
Sharing the home space with three buffaloes and three dogs, do not have any children, but despite this, they share a close bond with almost all the children of the hamlet.
Pointing to the abject conditions in which the family members of Indira Gandhi are forced to live, Chandrapal, a former village Pradhan, said, “The family has no access to power connection and pucca toilet.” Chandrapal further stated that despite their meagre living conditions, the family members have extended every possible help to the villagers, who had earlier approached them.
The village is inhabited by almost 2,000 persons, of which nearly one-fifth belong to scheduled castes. Most of the villagers are farm labourers. The silver lining is that most of the children go to the schools, and so far three youngsters of the village have found job in Railways, while one person is in the Army. A girl from the village had joined the UP Police.
Indira Gandhi, whose home is located almost 1 kilometre from the polling booth, has not seen even a single prominent political leader from any party visit her place. Villagers informed that solar-powered lights have been installed (by Congress leaders), but only in some parts of the village. “During the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, star campaigner of Congress Priyanka Gandhi took out a road show, but she skipped Kaluhee village,” said the former village Pradhan.
Pointing to the Aadhaar card of Indira Gandhi (which mentions her as Shrimati Gandhi), Chandrapal, ex-village Pradhan said, “This seems to be a clerical error, which was committed during enrolling/registration, which we would get it corrected in coming days.”
Thakur Brijesh Singh, a social worker from Unchahar, after learning about the plight of Indira said, “I would act in my personal capacity to help Indira Gandhi and her husband, so that they could at least lead a dignified life.”