Mathura: As voting came to an end in Mathura Friday, all eyes are on whether actor-turned-politician Hema Malini will be able to do a hat-trick as MP.
The constituency recorded 46.96 percent voting till 5 pm, according to the Election Commission.
While the 75-year-old BJP MP is confident of a win based on her work in the constituency, a large number of Mathura residents — despite being ardent Modi supporters — are upset about their “missing MP” and say that she hasn’t been seen much there.
At Malini’s poll rally in Hernol village of Mathura Monday, Satish, on a bicycle loaded with fodder for his animals, told ThePrint that he had not seen Hema Malini till date. “She did not do any work in our area, nor did she ever come,” he said.
Some local BJP leaders also admitted that there was anger among the people because during the Covid pandemic, when the public needed their parliamentarian, she was missing.
Speaking on the subject to ThePrint, Malini asserted that the job of an MP is not to go to people’s homes and sit.
“When people need me, it is my responsibility to be among them, but when there is no need, why should I be among people every day? There is no need for it,” she said, prior to polling Friday. “Looking at the work I have done in the last 10 years, my party has given me another chance from Mathura. I have built roads here and beautified the city.”
In her election meetings, she told the people that work was going on for the ‘Chaurasi Kosi’ project in Mathura at a cost of Rs 11,000 crore and if the public gave her a third term, then further work would be done on it.
A senior BJP leader from Mathura said that complete transformation of an area was a continuous and arduous task, and it was not possible for any MP to overhaul a place completely.
“Hema Malini is a big film star. One should not expect a film star to be an equally big leader. She wins elections in the name of (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi. In the last 10 years, some good work has been done in the area, such as construction of roads in many villages and beautification of the city,” he added.
At Malini’s public meeting in Jabra village Monday, Vijay Singh, wearing a cap supporting the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) on his head and a BJP scarf around his neck, told ThePrint: “Everyone knows that Hema Malini is not a leader who lives among the people. It doesn’t matter. We will vote for Modiji and make him win again, whether she works or not.”
At the meeting, it was announced that “jinhe aap TV par dekhte the, aaj woh aamne samne aa rahi hai apke gaon mai (the person you used to see on TV is coming to your village today to meet you face to face)”.
‘She is completely cut off from people’
In 2014, Malini won from Mathura for the first time and then again in 2019.
People on the ground allege that she remains among the public only during elections. This time too, during the poll season, she put out a photo of herself on social media harvesting wheat in the fields, and drew criticism.
At the time of the pandemic, posters of her alleged disappearance surfaced in Mathura, stating that ‘aapda mai Mathura ki sansad lapata (Mathura’s MP missing in calamity)’.
This poll season, Congress’s Mukesh Dhangar, who hails from Mathura, is contesting against her, has tagged Malini as an “outsider” and raised the issue of Pravasi versus Brijvasi (outsider vs insider) in the elections.
“When the public was suffering during Covid, Hema Malini did not go among the people. When the fire in Raya (town in Mathura) happened, she was not among the public. She is completely cut off from the people,” he told ThePrint.
While people may be upset, they argue that there is no strong opposition candidate to give her competition. The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) could have given a fight in Mathura but the party has now allied with the BJP.
Malini is not the first in her family to be accused of going “missing”. Her husband Dharmendra and stepson Sunny Deol, both Bollywood stars, also entered politics and complaints about them not being available surfaced in their constituencies.
Dharmendra had become MP from Bikaner, Rajasthan, in 2004 and during his stint, advertisements asking his whereabouts were published in local newspapers.
There were also missing posters in 2022 in the name of Sunny Deol, who won from Punjab’s Gurdaspur in 2019. The BJP has not given him a ticket this time.
‘Our expectations are from Narendra Modi, not her’
Malini claims in her public meetings that she has done a lot of work on the ground in the last 10 years in Mathura.
“The villagers did not even have simple facilities like water and roads. The previous governments had not done anything. Now hardly anyone complains about water. We got roads built in the villages,” she told the crowds.
However, when ThePrint visited several villages in Baldeo, Mant and Govardhan areas of Mathura constituency, broken roads and overflowing drains were visible.
Bhagwan Das, who runs a shop outside Baldeo’s famous Dauji temple, said: “Hema Malini has done nothing for the development of the area but we will still vote for her. Our expectations are from Narendra Modi, not her.”
“Here, people vote for the BJP and not for Hema Malini. People’s aim is to make the BJP win again. If there was anyone else in place of Hema Malini, we would have voted for the BJP only,” he asserted.
Malini’s close aide, not wishing to be named, told ThePrint that she had worked for the constituency. “Now, she comes to Mathura more than before. Although, she rarely interacts with people, she works on the development plans of the area and on various projects and also remains in constant touch with different departments.”
Malini has spent more than half of her MPLADS (Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme) funds on construction of roads, link roads and pathways. She was allocated Rs 9,80,00,000 in the 17th Lok Sabha, of which Rs 5,88,96,182 has been spent.
She also bought a house in nearby Vrindavan in 2018 and stays there whenever she comes to Mathura. She only spends a few days a month in her constituency, according to her aides.
“I am not up for small tasks but I have taken up big tasks — the Chaurasi Kosi project, which is worth Rs 11,000 crore. The cleaning of drains is the work of MLAs and local representatives, not mine,” Malini told ThePrint.
This time, the RLD is in hoping to cash in on Malini’s Jat bahu (daughter-in-law) status.
“She has a clean image and has not been involved in any controversy in the last 10 years and Modi himself appreciates her efforts as an MP,” said the BJP leader quoted above.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)