In Firozabad,Congress lull after Babbar storm

It had then reacted to what was perceived as Akhilesh’s arrogance. It is now unhappy with Babbar’s track record as MP.

In the general election held in April-May 2009,Akhilesh Yadav had contested from Kannauj and Firozabad,and won both.

“During campaigning,he had said that if he won both seats,he would retain Firozabad and serve the people here. But he resigned from Firozabad,did not tell anyone why,and fielded his wife as if it was his personal fief,” says Hari Om Verma,independent member of the city’s municipal council.

The defeat of “Mulayam Singh Yadav’s daughter-in-law” made big news. It rankled Akhilesh and his father and they never hid it. Politically,Babbar’s victory was seen as further evidence of a revival of the Congress,which had surprised all by winning 21 Lok Sabha seats only six months earlier.

Advocate P C Chaturvedi says Babbar was also helped by the fact that the by-election took place after the Congress-led UPA’s return to power in Delhi. People had hopes from the UPA and,in his campaign speeches,Babbar said he would not let Firozabad down.

Besides,“Rahul Gandhi had come here to campaign and said,‘I want Raj Babbar by my side in the Lok Sabha’. It was after at least 40 years that somebody from the Nehru-Gandhi family had come here and made that kind of appeal’’,recalls Dr M C Agarwal,a physician.

Babbar promised potato-processing industries,new railway links,institutions of technical education and much else but nothing has happened on the ground.

State Congress secretary Dharam Singh Yadav blames the state government. “They are not giving land,without which nothing can be done,” he alleges.

There is also something terribly wrong within the party. Last week,delivering a pre-election shock,district Congress president Yogesh Pratap Singh Baghel crossed over to the BSP. Dharam Singh Yadav alleges a conspiracy behind Baghel’s appointment as district president in the first place,and wants the leadership to conduct an inquiry.

A party senior says it is a mystery how the party candidates,most of them little known in their constituencies,were selected.

The result is that the Congress appears to be struggling in all five constituencies.

It is the SP and BJP that seem to be benefiting from the popular grievances against the BSP rule. Both parties had drawn a blank in 2007; the district then had four seats,two of which went to the BSP and two to Independents.

Interestingly,Rahul Gandhi has not visited Firozabad yet though polling is days away. Nor has,interestingly again,Akhilesh Yadav.

Crop & coal

Firozabad is in UP’s potato belt. Outside every cold store lie heaps of rotting potato,cattle feeding on them. These are from last year’s crop,which the farmers had stored in the hope of getting a better price in future. That never happened; in the fields,the farmers are now harvesting the new crop.

In Jaraila village,Ganesh Rajput’s land has yielded “1,200 bags”,each 50 kg. Since his crop is of a superior variety,he will get Rs 300 per bag,but this is just about his cost of production. He plans to put his entire crop into cold storage,paying about Rs 50 per bag,to get a better price later. He believes last year’s story will not be repeated because “production this year is low”.

Najab Hussain of Sarai Sheikh says all parties talk of “potato growers’ plight” but none actually does anything to help them. “Let them set up some industry if it helps,” he says.

Nevertheless,potato farmers sound inclined towards the SP because “Mulayam Singh ensures power supply and fertilisers when we need it”,Hussain says. “The Mayawati government didn’t ensure either.”

The economy of the city revolves around the glass industry and its main product is bangles,which are supplied all over the country. Bangles produced by industrial units require decorative work and finishing,which is done manually in thousands of homes.

Most glass units have moved out of the city and use gas as fuel,but many small ones remain. They burn coal and pose a major health hazard. Around each unit,the walls,widowpanes,poles,cables — everything is covered in soot.

“There is no use painting the house,” says Vivek Jain of Om Nagar,“When the kilns are fired,we just shut the doors and windows to keep the smoke out and stay in. People here suffer from breathing ailments.”

The only solution is to move the units out and convert them into gas-run ones,but the owners have been resisting this. The health,pollution control and labour welfare laws notwithstanding,the authorities dare not touch them for political reasons.

Another sore point in the city is heaps of garbage and awful sanitary conditions. Municipal council chairman Manish Hasija,who is contesting as the BJP candidate,alleges that the government has stopped grants to arm-twist him after he refused to acquiesce in certain things that local BSP MLA Naseeruddin Siddiqui wanted done.

BSP candidate Khalid Naseer,the MLA’s son,counters that the grants were stopped after financial irregularities. While the blame game goes on,conditions in parts of the town remain horrific.