Give us wells and water, not war8217;

It is Sembalia village in Udaipur Lok Sabha constituency. All exhortations to vote for a nationalist'' party that takes care of nationa...

It is Sembalia village in Udaipur Lok Sabha constituency. All exhortations to vote for a 8220;nationalist8221; party that takes care of national honour or the pitch for the 8220;only party capable of providing a stable government8221; have fallen flat. The village folk are unmoved by these lofty issues. 8220;Vote kis mein denge? Talaab ke teer mein Where will we cast our vote? By the side of the pondquot; is the slogan they have raised, deciding to boycott the elections to attract the attention of the authorities to the basic problems they face.

Not one government since independence has done anything for them, they claim. Their list of demands, in what they call their fight for justice, includes repair of the village well, a handpump to provide drinking water for the village, construction of a water tank, road connection for the village and a bridge to enable access to the school across the pond, besides several other similar basic necessities.

The gap between what the parties and leaders are trying to sell andwhat the people want is quite glaring. Just as the Jats in Sikar stopped moving out from Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee8217;s meeting in Sikar only when he spoke of reservations for them, the tribals here clapped most when Sonia Gandhi promised steps for social upliftment.

Kargil seemed to matter to just a few to the owners of a shop and a dhaba, who were also vehement in asserting the foreign origin issue. The Gujar employee of the dhaba owner was not bothered about either. About Sonia assuming the party leadership, he said looking at his employer, 8220;If this dhaba owner dies tomorrow, who will assume charge but his wife?8221; Another reaction on the foreign origin issue was: 8220;What do you mean she is from outside? She married here. How does it matter if one marries outside? Who marries within his own lot?8221;

So these things matter little. In this belt where state Congress chief Girja Vyas is trying to win back the seat from the BJP8217;s Shantilal Chaplaut, voting preference can be, by and large, predicted bycaste identity. Gujars, tribals and Scheduled Castes vote for the Congress while the middle class townfolk lean towards the BJP. Upper caste votes are split as both parties have Brahmin candidates. Vyas, who had lost by a narrow margin in 1998, does not have the disadvantage of sabotage by fellow partymen this time. Besides, Chaplaut has failed to impress or inspire confidence among voters. The BJP8217;s strong point is cadre strength and voter turnout, given the apathy to elections among the people.