In ‘tiger country’ Pilibhit, a poll battle shapes up without BJP’s Gandhis after decades

Since 1996, Pilibhit has been continuously represented by the other branch of the Gandhi family, with former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi and her son Varun turning it into their pocket borough. But with the BJP deciding against fielding Varun, the incumbent MP, Pilibhit is set for a high-stakes contest in the first phase on April 19 between two candidates who are new to the constituency.

Vote shares in Pilibhit:

Note: BSP and SP were in alliance 2019, Congress did not contest. (Source: Election Commission)

The BJP has fielded PWD Minister Jitin Prasada, who is from neighbouring Shahjahanpur and is seeking votes as “Modi ka doot (Modi’s messenger)”, vouching for Narendra Modi’s blessings and citing the prime minister’s recent rally there. Against him is the Samajwadi Party’s (SP’s) Bhagwat Saran Gangwar who is from nearby Bareilly district. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav launched his poll campaign from Pilibhit on Friday, hoping to give the former state minister a boost in an election that hinges to a large degree on local issues and caste equations.

“The PM’s visit here is a clear message that no effort will be spared for Pilibhit’s development. I am standing before you as his messenger,” Prasada tells the crowd at a campaign event, with local MLA and state minister Sanjay Singh Gangwar standing next to him. Both of them tell the crowd that voting “lotus (the BJP’s symbol)” to have two ministers — one in the state, the other at the Centre — would mean more development.

Prasada says the PWD has released a lot of funds for roads in Pilibhit and although a lot of work needs to be done, more will be given in the future. Speaking to The Indian Express in between campaign stops, the minister defends his selection over the Gandhis, saying, “The party has been winning here for decades, so there is a party structure here. The decision was taken by the top leadership through a rigorous selection process. We are disciplined soldiers and when the party decides, everyone follows.”

Asked what the BJP is showcasing or promising in its campaign, Prasada says, “Systems have been put in place for the procurement of wheat and paddy, there are few delays in sugarcane payments, a Rs 200-crore bridge over the Sharda Canal has been sanctioned, and a yeast factory is coming up.”

About 40 km away in Balrampur village, Bhagwat Saran Gangwar reminds the crowd of his work as the MLA of Nawabganj in Bareilly, when he was a minister in the SP government of 2003. Being new to the constituency like Prasada, he tells the crowd, “I have been MLA five times from Nawabganj. I have been a minister in the state government twice. You can ask about my work there. I have spent 40 years in politics and there is no controversy against me. My gates are always open for people of my area.”

Having visited the family of a victim of a recent tiger attack in Raniganj next door, Gangwar alleges government neglect in protecting locals. “Attacks are being reported every month. There is a demand to fence off the forest but nothing is being done,” he says.

With Lodh Rajputs a significant presence in the area — around four lakh — Gangwar misses no opportunity to remind people that the BJP overlooked Hemraj Verma, a Lodh who contested against Varun in 2019 but subsequently joined the ruling party. Verma was expecting to get the ticket this time. He has, however, publicly backed Prasada and is also a part of his campaign events. In his speeches, the SP candidate also keeps pointing out that the BJP has again given the ticket in neighbouring Lakhimpur Kheri to Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’ whose son Ashish stands accused of running his SUV over protesting farmers in 2021.

The Terai region, of which Pilibhit is a part, has a sizable Sikh population – refugees from West Pakistan resettled here after Partition. In his speech, PM Modi invoked the 1984 riots and spoke about how the SP was in alliance with the Congress, the party that was behind the violence.

Gangwar responds to this line of attack by talking of bread-and-butter issues. He also underlines that the four protesters killed in Lakhimpur Kheri were Sikhs. “A Sikh is a farmer first. They haven’t forgotten the farmers’ protest or Lakhimpur, where the minister, whose son ran over farmers, has been rewarded again. There are many issues here. Look at the condition of the roads. They talk about giving free rations, but those cost a maximum of Rs 6,000 per family. In comparison, when a youth has to ride a bike to travel elsewhere for his job, the monthly petrol cost comes to Rs 12,000,” he says.

Talk about the riots also does not resonate with Tej Pal Singh, 42, a Sikh who runs a flour mill in Puranpur. “1984 is long gone, this is 2024. We are worried about our kids’ futures. But who will listen to us? Many go to Haryana or Punjab for work, but most can’t even afford that. Other kids are injured or killed in tiger attacks, while stray cattle run over and ruin our crops,” he says.

CAA as a campaign issue

In his campaign speech, the PM also spoke about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and alleged how the Congress and the SP were opposed to the law that was meant to get migrants citizenship.

In the village of Chaduia — locally known as “Bangali colony” as it is one of the many colonies around here where Bengali Hindu refugees from Bangladesh were resettled after 1971 — people are still fighting to get proper identity documents. The residents of the colony have been traditional BJP voters. Many of them say they either lost or misplaced their 1971 “border slips”.

“Our sole identity proofs were the slips handed to our forefathers by the BSF at the East Pakistan border in 1970 when Bangladesh was yet to be created. While some have clung on to those slips, many others have lost them, while those who fled later in a flood weren’t even given any, and are thus still struggling for proper identity. I lost the slip years ago in a fire that destroyed our house,” says Devi Prasad Mandal who identifies himself as a follower of Sanatan Dharma.

He says he doesn’t know much about the CAA but hopes his family will benefit. “We have been voting for the BJP unflinchingly in the hope our children get the benefits they deserve,” he says.

Back in Pilibhit city, 28-year-old IIM Ahmedabad graduate Kushagra Agarwal points out how a lack of industries and jobs is a big problem in the region. “There are no industries or educational institutions here. As a result, youths leave Pilibhit if they get the opportunity,” says Agarwal, whose father is a doctor and also owns hotels. For Agarwal, who spent most of his youth away from Pilibhit as a student, his future is outside the city, something most of his peers cannot afford.