In neglected eastern UP, Modi’s development plank strikes a chord
The BJP campaign leader refrains from raising issues of caste and religion
Gorakhpur, UP, January 24:
In the endless traffic jams and chaos that followed a spectacular rally by the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, in Gorakhpur on Thursday, not a bit of impatience or annoyance could be detected among the euphoric supporters.
Chanting his name at the rally venue was not enough — streams of rallyists in their saffron headgear and flags kept erupting into loud sloganeering in the clogged by-lanes of the city. I
t was not just the cadre that filled the Manbela grounds and swelled out into the streets; there were volunteers from all the 13 Lok Sabha constituencies that comprise the eastern Uttar Pradesh region. They claimed that a “Modi tsunami” had hit their region.
There has clearly been a method and strategy in Modi’s election plank that addresses issues that the local forces — the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) — seem to have shown a contemptuous neglect for over two decades of their political domination.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s film star party at Saifai earlier this month was perceived here as just another instance of the disdain for people’s aspirations that both the SP and the BSP have routinely displayed.
Gorakhpur has power supply for just five hours a day and the situation is worse in the adjoining towns such as Basti, Kushinagar, Gonda, Bahraich, Deoria and Balia. Although the city has a corporation, there has been no attempt to install solid waste disposal or efficient sewage systems. Open sewers and garbage dumps dot the landscape and, in less than a year, the Japanese encephalitis has killed 497 children.
Darbar governance
The religious seat of Gorakhnath, presided over by local MP Yogi Aadityanath, is the only redressal forum for the local residents. People with problems approach the durbar where Adityanath sits on a dais with an ornamental table. They touch his feet and beg for solutions, and are directed to two clerks who then jot down their complaints. Every once in a while, Adityanath makes a call to the officers of the concerned departments against which complaints have been lodged and lets out a flurry of invective.
Sometimes, the problems are solved.
The feudal and semi-ecclesiastical structure of the durbar signifies the only hope. According to Dr JP Jaiswal, who runs the popular Life Care hospital in the city, Gorakhpur would have collapsed into total chaos if it were not for Adityanath.
“Do you see now why people vote for Adityanath? He is the only one who offers some redressal. We get five hours of power. I have four big generators, inverters and solar energy panels to run my clinic. We are sick of this administration that has crushed whatever infrastructure the city had in the last two decades. The CM has all the time in the world for his dance parties and look at the way we live here. I have been to Gujarat. It is a dream destination. Modi is the only one who has promised us hope out of this mess,” Dr Jaiswal said.
Across barriers
He said caste will still remain a factor but, for a large number of people, Modi is promising development across the divisions of caste and religion.
Indeed, there was a clear attempt to appeal to all sections of the society in Modi’s speech. “For decades now, the dalits, the adivasis and the marginalised sections have voted for parties that treat them as vote banks,” said Modi. “But let me tell you that in States where the BJP has reached out to them with development and not slogans, they have responded. In Rajasthan, of the 34 reserved seats for SCs, the Congress did not get even one. In Chhattisgarh, of the 10 reserved seats, they won only one and, in Madhya Pradesh, of the 35 seats, we have won 28 seats.
“In UP, I want to assure my dalit brothers and sections of the most marginalised communities that we will do what others have not. We will give you water, power, irrigation, fair price for crops and basic facilities for making everyday life easy and happy. It is not too late to dream; I can realise this dream for you.”
Although the entrenched resilience of the caste system may not get swept away entirely, it is a slogan that has already found much resonance. Modi may not be entirely wrong when he says that the battle is “already won”.
In neglected eastern UP, Modi’s development plank strikes a chord | Business Line