In Uttar Pradesh, 19 seats of Bundelkhand are also included in the elections to be held in the third phase. The Bharatiya Janata Party had won all the 19 seats here in the 2017 assembly elections. In this election, the Bahujan Samaj Party has made the competition tough by making strategic changes in the distribution of tickets.
When it was an evening at a crossroads of the Dalit Basti of Chandranagar village, about 35 km from Jhansi, Congress candidate Chandrashekhar Tiwari's wife Abha Tiwari and her team entered the basti for campaigning.
As soon as he enters, a debate starts between the people who came for the campaign and the local Dalit youth on the rights and share of the Dalits. The debate begins on a question we made.
Ankesh, who came to Chandranagar from a nearby Khajraha elder, raises the question of "how many Dalit chief ministers in 29 Indian provinces". When Neeraj Gupta asked with a little annoyance whether "no development happened in 70 years," the answer is "it has happened but because of casteism".
The Congress candidate himself, who came to campaign for him, citing state-run engineering company BHEL and other development works, argues that "he is unable to travel everywhere due to late ticket distribution and the shortage created by it". Huh.
Chandranagar is a part of 'Babina', one of the 5 assembly constituencies falling in the Jhansi Lok Sabha seat. Babina remained in the BSP's side thrice, except once from the 1996 assembly elections.
However, BJP had won from here last time. This time Dashrath Singh Lodhi of the backward Lodh caste is in the field from here on the elephant's mark.
BSP candidate from Jhansi Sadar seat, Kailash Sahu says, "BSP got 23 percent votes in the 2017 elections also. At the same time, it has been the effort of sister Mayawati that we all go to the society, for which we are getting the benefit.
Targeting the BJP, he says that the party did not give the ticket to Rathore or a person from the Teli-Sahu community on any of the 403 seats. Despite Kailash Sahu's victory in the 2009 by-election, the party did not give him a ticket in the subsequent two assembly elections.
The attempt to bring together the other backward castes and Gujjars, who are called the Pals of the shepherd society, is being considered as part of the strategy of the BSP.
The Samajwadi Party, which had been at number two in Bundelkhand in terms of seats and vote percentage before the last assembly elections in 2017, is trying to widen its base this time.
Local journalist Laxmi Narayan Sharma says that in the last years, the Bharatiya Janata Party has been spreading the word that the SP is only for Yadavs and the BSP is only for Jatavs. Due to this the non-Yadav and non-Jatav votes shifted to BJP.
This time both the parties have tried to increase their vote base again. But how effective this will be, is yet to be investigated.
Among the backward castes, who had supported the BJP in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections, are angry over the non-filling and reduction of the reservation quota. Even the talk of giving reservation to the upper castes was not going down his throat.
Ram Lalla Patel of Jakhauli village of Jalaun district says that the court has left the matter to the government, but the employment of the youth of backward society has been locked.
Contrary to what has been said in Delhi and many sections of the media that the three agricultural laws are limited to Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh, there is anger among farmers in Bundelkhand as well over the "forced agitation" and the death of 600 farmers.
When all these things were happening at the tea stall near the entrance of Jakhauli village, some youths come there.
Bhupendra complains that he is not able to do anything even after doing B.Sc. You are making the examinations difficult for the job, what to do, keep studying for 40 years? Family members also have expectations after an age, what to say to them? He speaks after a short conversation in the style of question and complaint.
Ashish Singh dismisses the whole talk of development saying, "Which development, the most lathi-charge has happened on the youth in this government." While sitting on a motorcycle with him, Nepal Singh says in a slightly weary tone that They have to do farming, "animals come and feed, that's a different matter."
Two of the youths were Lodh Rajputs. Lodh Rajput has been a staunch supporter of the BJP. Jakhauli, which falls in the Orai region, has a large number of people belonging to the backward Kurmi community and they have also been supporters of the BJP.
However, according to Rajendra Kumar Patel, "This time in Bunedkhand, not everyone is with the BJP like last time".
Ram Lalla Patel says on the question of Kurmi votes that in Bundelkhand, "Kurmi votes will be divided into some SP, some in BSP, some may even go to BJP".
BJP may have been criticized in some circles for making security an issue, but it has not been completely removed from the minds of voters.
Some people from the backward castes have fear about the BSP, so the old image of the Samajwadi Party has not been completely washed away from the minds of the people.
Raghuraj Singh says that a major reason for the separation of backward from BSP was that many times people were implicated in the SC-ST law. Some tried to make every case 'Dalit vs Upper Caste'.
Regarding the Samajwadi Party, people repeat the slogan in many places - "The slogan of the Samajwadi Party is, the empty plot is ours".
Yashpal Singh Yadav, SP's young candidate from Babina Vidhan Sabha, says on these allegations, "In this state, the father of a child is murdered over food. A woman was raped. His father was put in jail. So under whose rule did the crime happen more." He calls these things BJP's propaganda.
In the Yadav-dominated village of Parona, a large red flag with a bicycle symbol is visible as soon as one enters. On the other side of the flagged house is the dargah of Sona Wali.
Near it is the hall of Sabra Bano. When we asked her about the red-colored dalan, she laughs and says, "If you vote for Akhilesh, you have turned everyone red".
Last time a part of the Yadav vote went to BJP. But this time he is seen complete with the SP. But he and others also have a place in their minds about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ram Mandir and people say that these votes are few to remove Modi.
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