Boycott call has Kalyan smiling

What is baffling about Bhargain’s positioning is that other Muslim villages in the region are rooting for the BSP’s Devendra Singh Yadav.

Aware that Bhargain’s decision has the potential to make or mar his electoral prospects,the rattled BSP candidate has organised a “bhoj” (community party) here on Sunday. “I am aware of Bhargain’s decision. But people of Bhargain are like my family members. I will be visiting them tomorrow to present my case and I am sure that they will change their decision,” Yadav told The Sunday Express. Interestingly,Bhargain had virtually voted en masse for Yadav in the 2004 polls when he had contested as an SP candidate.

Residents of Bhargain,however,appeared unwilling to change their position. “Even if all the Muslims of Patiali (Assembly segment) unite to vote against Kalyan,we (in Bhargain) are not going to change our decision. We will not vote till our demands are met. Assurances will not do this time,we have seen enough of them,” says Nisar Ahmed,ex-ward member of Bhargain Panchayat. Speaking at the village meeting ground,he is supported by the young as well as the old,by a Maulavi and a Haji.

The signs of boycott are ubiquitous. With black flags and banners hoisted at the entry point to the village,the foremost demand of the residents is conversion of Bhargain Halt into a full-fledged railway station. The other demands include repair of the damaged village approach road,streetlights,tube wells for irrigation and appointment of doctors in the village hospital. A railway station is important as a large number of people from this Pathan-dominated village have migrated to Gujarat for greener pastures.

So,aren’t the Muslims of Bhargain aware that their poll boycott could benefit Kalyan Singh? “We are not bothered who benefits. Development is foremost on our agenda,” said Ahmed.

Bhargain has played a crucial role in the past in determining the fate of contestants. In 2004,Yadav had defeated the BJP nominee by over 50,000 votes and Patiali alone had given him a lead of over 35,000 votes. “Bhargain’s role was crucial as it had voted en block for Devendra,” said a BSP manager. Historically,Etah was one of the two constituencies — the other being Chaudhary Charan Singh’s Baghpat — that did not elect a Congress candidate in the Lok Sabha elections in UP in the pro-Congress wave after Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984. Etah goes to polls on May 7.