Jobless, Amethi youth throng Rahul

Says Jai Shankar Gupta, a Korari villager, ‘‘They should take away these transformers, they are useless. What is an election? We vote for Congress but we live without water or electricity.’’ ‘‘We will vote for Rahul Gandhi,’’ says Hamid Raini of Jais village. ‘‘But after he wins, he has a lot of work to do. Bahut kaam baki hai. Ham bahut pichar gaye hain.’’

‘‘It is not Sonia’s fault. There are several structural problems in Amethi,’’ says Rajeshwar Singh, retired principal in Amethi. ‘‘The soil is sandy and salty…nothing grows here. Farmers cannot switch to mechanised farming due to lack of electricity Power scarcity has also driven out industry. That is why you see so many young men with all the time in the world to chase Rahul’s car.’’

Dr Hriday Ram Yadav, UP Congress Commitee secretary, says Amethi was ‘‘a jungle before the Gandhis’’ came. ‘‘There was nothing here. Now at least there are some roads and pucca houses. Things were good in Rajiv’s time. Since then, all development has stopped. Electricity towers have been left unfinished. Roads have been left untarred. Wires have been left hanging for 12 years. Soniaji hardly gets any cooperation from the government.’’

Not that Rahul notices. ‘‘Are the roads bad? I don’t know… I don’t know why they’re bad,’’ he says, knee-deep in crowds, cameramen and garlands.

At the Government Girls Inter College, there are no rooms and no staff. There is only an acting principal. Kamal, who runs his own school called YKK Indian Educational Insitute, says the constituency has no money to start new schools.

BSP activists Sripat Maurya and Suresh Kamal say they left the Congress because the party is ‘‘not interested in development because it is so secure’’ about winning. ‘‘You can’t aspire to a political career in Amethi,’’ says Maurya. ‘‘Nobody but a Gandhi or a chamcha can ever get a ticket. Politically, Rae Bareli and Amethi are closed. That is why the Gandhis are not motivated to do anything for its development.’’