PM Modi Vs Akhilesh Yadav In This UP Town. The Aams, Not The Aadmis

Lucknow: In Uttar Pradesh, where political parties are prepping for a big poll battle next year, a different sort of competition is quietly blooming between Narendra Modi and Akhilesh Yadav. The mango varieties, that is.

Kalimuddin Khan's orchard in the mango-growing town of Malihabad, around 35 km from state capital Lucknow, is the stage for this sweet battle.

"I have to say the Akhilesh aam (mango) is far sweeter than the Modi aam, but the Modi aam's taste is more sublime," says the 75-year-old Padma Shri winner, giving a politically correct assessment of his produce.

Some may accuse Mr Khan of trying to cash in on the election-heavy atmosphere in the state.
 "If popularity was the objective, I would have named them after my sons. My intention is to reflect the beauty of the characters they are named after," Mr Khan explains.

The "Akhilesh" mango is the latest product at his four-acre orchard. Last year, the star attraction was the "Modi" variety.

Mr Khan received the Padma Shri, one of the country's top civilian awards, in 2008 for developing hundreds of mango varieties. There are a staggering 300 varieties from just a single tree.

He took over his family's 300-year-old mango cultivation business after failing his Class 7 exams in 1957.

The orchard is now on the must-visit list of many dignitaries.  
 Over the years, governors and chief ministers have visited the nursery and its mangoes have travelled far and wide.

"People should remember me with love. I will obviously be remembered for my mangoes but I also want to be remembered as a nice person," says Mr Khan before sitting down for his afternoon namaaz.

He says his only regret is that a depleting water table and increasing pollution means only 700-odd varieties of mangoes can be found in malihabad now against the 1300 recorded in 1919.