Two ministers and a common tale

“Look at Varanasi and Allahabad. Does Mirzapur look like a divisional headquarter by any means,” asks G P Maurya,a government servant in Laxmanpuram.

With all the existing industries —brassware and carpet — gasping for breath here and no new initiative in sight,BSP’s Rangnath Mishra is promising development in Mirzapur (City) constituency. The former secondary education minister was sacked by Chief Minister Mayawati after he was indicted by the Lokayukta. Initially,he was not allotted ticket but later his candidacy was restored. He was the sitting MLA from Aurai in SRD Nagar,which has now become a reserved seat. He has now moved to Mirzapur (City).

More than the corruption charges,it is the outsider tag that seems to be weighing against Mishra,though he seems intent on leaving no stone unturned to shrug it off.

Aware that his seat was gone post-delimitation,Mishra — who was lucky to survive the “operation clean-up” of Mayawati in the run-up to the elections during which more than 20 ministers were sacked and their tickets cancelled — seemed to have begun working his way into Mirzapur at least six months ago.

For instance,he chose the Kasarhatti area,the hub of brassware units,in the city. Chauhans,a large number of whom are involved in such units,say that transformers were put in order and the power supply situation improved,helping them in their work.

Chauhans,however,are not BSP supporters. “The BSP government has done nothing for us. We have to go out as far as Nepal and even Bihar and Jharkhand for work since the brassware industry is thriving in those places. Mishra may have got some work done here. But the fact remains that he is an outsider. He would win and then leave,” says Ratan Chauhan,a resident of Bharuhana village,located within the city limit. The village,which has over 5,000 Chauhans,seems largely in favour of two-time sitting MLA,Kailash Nath Chaurasia of Samajwadi Party.

“Kiye to woh bhi kuchch nahin hain,lekin vyawahar ke acchhe hain (he too has not done anything,but his behaviour has generally been good),” says Sanjay Chauhan,another resident.

Sheetala Prasad,of the same village,says: “They have not even been able to provide proper sanitation in this huge colony,which is located right in the middle of the city. We have houses and buildings around our village. We cannot even go out in the open. They will never realise the kind of filth we live in.”

In Laxmanpuram,not far from Bharuhana village,Hari Shankar Pathak said: “We are tired of politicians. But we don’t mind going with him (Mishra) if he promises development.”

But there is a catch. “Agar inhone BSP ka naam kahin galti se bhi le liya,to hum inko vote nahin denge (If he takes the name of BSP even by mistake,we will not vote for him),” says Pathak,adding that the Brahmins would vote for him only because he belonged to their caste and is the only Brahmin candidate in the fray.

Indictment by Lokayukta,says Prabhashankar Pandey,another resident of Laxmanpuram,does not mean much. “All of them have been doing it (corrupt practices). If he does even a little bit for us,we will welcome that,” he says.

Post-delimitation,many Brahmin dominated areas of Chhanbey constituency in Mirzapur district — Gaipura,Akashi,Gudsar,Neeri,Nadini and Chopa — have become part of Mirzapur (City) constituency.

At Chhanbey,there is one more demand from the electorate — proper irrigation facilities for farming. “Chhanbey’s villages are dependent on the monsoon. Thousands of acres of farming land in these villages fall within the non-irrigated zone. But nothing has been done so far,” says Pathak,who retired as an irrigation engineer.

Though being the chairman of the Mirzapur Nagar Palika,Congress candidate Deep Chandra Jain,does not seem to have earned many supporters. “You should have come during daytime. As there is no streetlight,you cannot see just how bad is the condition of the road right in the middle of the city,” says Maurya.

The BJP has fielded Manoj Jaiswal from the business community. While the traders may support him to some extent,many still blame BJP leader Rajnath Singh for ignoring Mirzapur,which was his karmbhoomi.