Mirzapur: A tough three-cornered poll battle awaits Mirzapur where Union minister Anupriya Patel is up against a BJP turncoat and a Brahmin candidate who are trying to deny a third consecutive win for the Apna Dal (Sonelal) president.
What adds heat to the contest is that Mirzapur — made famous by a popular OTT series — has been known for not giving more than two consecutive terms to its representative since 1952.
In 2019, Anupriya had retained the seat by a margin of 2 lakh-plus seats over her closest rival from the Samajwadi Party (SP). This time, the SP has fielded sitting Bhadohi MP Ramesh Chand Bind, a non-Yadav OBC leader who joined the party after being denied ticket by the BJP, from this parliamentary seat in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
Kunda strongman and Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik) chief Raja Bhaiya’s supporters are out in support of Bind in Mirzapur where Thakurs number about 90,000. The Thakurs are upset with Anupriya for her veiled attack on Raja Bhaiya.
Ahead of voting in Kaushambi on 25 May, Anupriya Patel remarked that the time had come to end the dominance of “self-declared kings” and that kings now take birth from EVM buttons, not from the wombs of queens.
“Self-declared kings think that Kunda is their fiefdom, the time has come that their misconception be ended. In democracy, kings take birth from the EVM button and not from the wombs of queens,” she said, in an indirect reference to Raja Bhaiya and his family’s legacy in the Kunda assembly seat from where the scion of the erstwhile Kunda royal family has won seven times.
Hoping to consolidate the Yadav, Muslim and Bind votes, the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP is also counting on the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to cut into the Apna Dal’s voteshare in a triangular fight.
The BSP has fielded Manish Tripathi, a Brahmin, with the hope to consolidate the Dalit and Brahmin voters like in the 2007 assembly polls, but it is the Dalits, who are most fragmented.
On her part, Anupriya is banking on Modi-Yogi factor and development pitch asserting that she developed Mirzapur “like a daughter beautifies her home”.
But there are voices calling for ‘badlaav’ (change), and the sitting MP faces anti-incumbency sentiments as well. Mirzapur votes 1 June.
“Is baar voter sab shant hai lekin badlaav hona chahiye. (This time, the voter is silent, but there should be change) It’s been 10 years and now someone else should be given a chance,” says Dinesh Kumar, a Dalit carpenter from Godhana village of Majhwan assembly seat in Mirzapur.
Caste calculus coupled with apprehensions about “reservations being scrapped” and “Constitution being finished” — often repeated by Akhilesh and Bind in their public meetings — find resonance among the Dalits who constitute about 4.5 lakh of the total 19,48,025 voters in Mirzapur.
In this backward-dominated seat where Anupriya’s Kurmi community alone constitutes 3.5 lakh votes, the Dalits make up the second highest vote share among the populace.
According to the Mirzapur Apna Dal (S) unit, among the non-Yadav OBCs, there are 3.5 lakh Kurmi voters including the Patels, 1.20 lakh Mauryas, 50,000 Pals and 1.45 lakh Binds along with 1.55 lakh Brahmins, 1.30 lakh Muslims, 1.5 lakh Vaishyas, 90,000 Kshatriyas, and 85,000 Yadavs.
“The UP government may remain the same, but there is a feeling that the central government can change. Look at the level of inflation. It’s been 10 years that this government has been in power. I think, someone else should be given a chance,” says Kumar, who is from the same sub-caste as that of BSP chief Mayawati.
Asked about the BSP’s prospects, Kumar says that while Mayawati did a lot for the community, her chances of winning are grim. “We all can see that Behenji no longer gets seats. One should not waste votes, and help someone who can win.”
About 20 m from his kutcha house are the houses of Tej Bahadur Choudhary and Anil Kumar Choudhary from the same Dalit community. Both are anxious about the possibility of reservations being scrapped and “the Constitution being changed”.
“Reservation is a huge issue. We will not let anyone finish reservations at any cost, and the reality is that no one can touch it. Modiji has done work, but look at his statements. Anupriya gets credit for establishing the medical college here, but reality is that it was a project of the previous government. She may win again because Kushwahas and Mauryas are also siding with her along with the Patels, but we want to help the INDIA bloc win,” says Tej Bahadur, a farmer.
Anil Kumar, a government school teacher, is unhappy with the “fake news being spread on TV channels” and expresses dismay over the PM’s statements like “mangalsutra” remark.
“In the BJP’s first term, their statements used to be good but now, leaders are making wrong statements. Despite being at the highest post, the PM is making wrong statements. Rahul Gandhi has matured, and he is making good statements. Paripakva ho gya hai (He has matured now),” he says.
Choudhary’s neighbour Rajjo Devi is clear about voting for Anupriya. “When I attended Anupriya’s meeting in the winter last year, I got a stick and a spectacle. I will vote for the one who gave me spectacles,” the septuagenarian says.
About a km away, Manorama Devi, a Dalit anganwadi worker, is worried about her emoluments. “Government employees are not getting pension. There is rampant unemployment. Akhilesh bhaiya had increased our allowance by Rs 800 towards the end of his regime. I like his policies,” she says.
Local SP functionaries admit that the Dalit voters may get split between the Apna Dal (S) and the party and that some may even rally behind Mayawati.
“Our candidate is a three-time BSP MLA from Majhwan. In 2014, his wife had fought on a BSP ticket from here and bagged the second position. He has brought a large section of the BSP voters with the party,” Abhay Yadav, ex-general secretary of the SP’s Mirzapur unit, tells ThePrint.
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Anupriya’s non-visibility a concern but caste comes first
While a section of Binds in Majhwan say they want to help Ramesh Bind who is a local candidate, others talk about Anupriya’s absence from the ground. “She doesn’t come at all. The BJP government is not bad, but the candidate is bad,” says Om Prakash Bind, a resident of Majhwan’s Bind-dominated Godhana village.
But in the interiors of Madihan assembly seat where Kurmis and Brahmins form a sizeable voteshare, Patels hope that Anupriya will return as an MP despite her non-visibility on the ground.
Pan seller Ram Pravesh Patel from Devari Kalan village says that people are not very happy with Anupriya but adds her Patel identity will help her despite remaining “an outsider.”
“People are not very happy with the fact that she doesn’t visit the region as frequently as she should. But at the end of the day, all will rally behind her. That’s because between Anupriya and Ramesh Bind, she is the bigger leader and also this election is about jati (caste). Moreover, we have got electricity, and there is no goondai (hooliganism) now under the present government,” he says.
Yadav feels that the Brahmins may play the kingmaker in a triangular fight. “The BSP has fielded a Brahmin candidate. He will cut into Anupriya’s voteshare,” says the ex-general secretary of the local SP unit. “If Brahmins vote for the BSP, Ramesh Bind may win.”
But Rajnish Saraswat, a resident of Madihan, says the community is divided. “Brahmins have never voted en masse together,” he scoffs.
Saraswat is miffed with Congress’ Lalitesh Pati Tripathi for fighting from Bhadohi on a TMC ticket this time. Tripathi came third after Anupriya and SP’s Ramcharitra Nishad in 2019.
“The BSP has fielded a Brahmin candidate, but we don’t intend to vote for him. Anupriya is a big leader, but she has not done much work on ground. However, it seems people will go with Modi-Yogi,” he says.
Saraswat still remembers the remarks made by Ramesh Bind in 2019 when he was fighting from Bhadohi as the BJP candidate. “Brahmins and upper castes usually don’t like him, because of his hurtful statements.”
In 2019, Bind was booked for violation of the model code of conduct for his comments that “Brahmins get beaten up irrespective of whether they are wearing ‘janeu’ (sacred thread worn by them) or not” and that “hundreds of Brahmins get beaten up if they beat up a Bind.”
Not only is the BSP likely to cut into her voteshare, even her mother’s Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) is likely to take away some Patel voters. Fighting in alliance with Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM and two other smaller outfits- Pragatisheel Manav Samaj Party (PMSP) and the Rashtriya Uday Party (RUP), it has fielded Daulat Singh Patel from the seat.
A retired Maths teacher formerly associated with the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, Patel is banking on his goodwill among the community in the Chunar assembly seat.
Some villagers talk about Patel’s contribution in providing employment to locals. “He has got several youngsters employed in his company that converts biomass into fuel. He has some personal vote here,” says Ramesh Patel, a resident of Chunar.
Water troubles remain unresolved
In this part of the driest region of UP, water woes remain a cause of concern for the NDA which is still popular among the backwards for its welfare schemes. Despite some success of the Har Ghar Nal Yojana, residents say water is the main poll issue here.
“The BJP has given Kisan Samman Nidhi, ration, old age pension and houses. We are BJP-minded. We will help Anupriya,” says 70-year-old Ram Vilas Maurya, a native of Devari Kalan.
But his neighbour Narendra Maurya, a general store owner, is upset that they still have to fetch water from a boring well located 4 km away.
“We have a water tank in our gram sabha but it doesn’t have water. Pipeline reached our village two years back, but we don’t get water. Only a few residents who can afford to dig a deep borewell get water while the rest of the village remains parched,” he says.
“For a borewell, we dug 650 ft underground but couldn’t get water. Only those with money have been able to get underground water. In 2022 too, we said that our votes will go to anyone who provides water,” his son Dileep Maurya says.
Nearby lives the family of Ram Das, a Dalit, who cycles over one km daily to fetch water from a resident who has a borewell at his house.
“Only the rich get water from borewells. Due to water scarcity, we can’t organise weddings or functions at home and are forced to call up water tankers on such occasions. A tanker operator takes Rs 800 per day for water supply. How can a poor person like me afford it?”
Ram Das has made up his mind: he plans to vote for change.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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