In Maya village,undercurrent of discontent

While most villagers turning up at the polling booth expressed a never-ending compassion for Mayawati,the humaare gaon ki mukhmantri,many of them said development in the village was just a myth. Whatever she did or did not do,Mayawati will still get majority vote from Badalpur on sympathy grounds, said Mangat Singh Nagar,who took the land acquisition case to the Allahabad High Court and later to the Supreme Court.

How can making roads be counted as development that is a basic thing any Chief Minister must do. Despite three colleges for girls in the village,which were initiated by the Mulayam government,there is not a single college for boys here. All development has gone into making the Maya Mahal. Those endless parks dont feed us,no employment opportunities have been created for this village, Nagar said.

The Maya Mahal a massive mansion being built for Mayawatis personal use on a 39,369 sq m plot acquired from village farmers is the point of disillusionment and discontent for many. In addition are two big parks and a helipad,all being made with government money.

Badalpur has 75 per cent Gujjar population,with Dalits and Muslims being seven per cent each. Due to a very insignificant number of Yadavs,SP candidate Rajkumar does not seem to stand a chance. Before Mayawati came to power in 2007,it was the BJP in Badalpur.