A group of Brahmins in Raebareli, which will go to the polls on May 20.
Photo Credit: Smita Gupta
Take the Lucknow-Allahabad expressway, and 25 km short of Raebareli, take a sharp right turn. The gleaming tarmac now gives way to a rutted and winding track amidst fields of ripening wheat and dusty fruit trees that ends 5 km later in the sprawling village of Johwa Sharqi, 3 km north of the gently flowing river Gomti.
Shining India has bypassed this village literally; 77 years after Independence, there is only one primary school here, with those keen to finish their education forced to travel 9 km to the Harchandpur block headquarters. Most villagers are dependent on agriculture - growing paddy and wheat - for their livelihood, on ever-diminishing plots of land, forcing many to either work as daily wage labourers in the fields or brick kilns, or leave for distant cities to eke out an existence.
The Gandhi Legacy
This village, typical of those in this area, is located in the Raebareli Lok Sabha constituency, the pocket borough of the Gandhis. It is but natural, therefore, that many of the conversations here should focus on the Congress's First Family. Former Congress President Sonia Gandhi has held the seat since 2004, winning it five times in a row. But, this time, with Ms Gandhi moving to the Rajya Sabha, the seat is up for grabs - with most believing that the Congress will nominate daughter Priyanka Gandhi this time. Since Independence, Raebareli has been won only thrice by those who don't belong either to the Gandhi family or to its circle of friends.
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In Johwa Sharqi, residents recall Ms Gandhi visiting the village on several occasions in the past, either doing a "roadshow" or addressing a meeting in the village. She hasn't ever gone door to door, possibly because of security restrictions. But Priyanka has been a frequent visitor, as she "took care of" the constituency for her mother.
Uncertainty Looms
A group of Brahmins are celebrating a family occasion. "Priyanka aayegi, to toofan aa jayega (if Priyanka comes, there will be a storm of approbation)," Shiv Sewak Shukla tells me, "We all like her... If she is nominated for the seat, Dinesh Pratap Singh will lose his deposit." Though neither the Congress nor the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have announced their candidates for Raebareli, people here are making their own assumptions, based on their preferences.
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Anil Kumar Tripathi says he is a BJP worker, but he is disillusioned. "Sonia Gandhi created jobs by helping set up factories. Congress ka vote yahan band hain (the Congress vote here is assured)", he says. However, eventually through that conversation, the real fault line emerges. "Vikas Dubey [a Brahmin gangster who had as many as 61 murders to his name] was killed in a police encounter in 2020," says Atul Shukla, stressing, "This government is killing only Brahmins and Muslims. The police have yet to find the killers of Kamlesh Tiwari [a Brahmin Bajrang Dal leader]."
Many Others Are Divided
Others, however, enmeshed in the travails of daily life are more cynical. Shivlal, who belongs to the community of Pasis - the second largest in the village after the Yadavs - is the current pradhan of the village. He is backing the BJP, hoping that Dinesh Pratap Singh will be the candidate. Of Ms Gandhi, he says: "What can I say about someone I have never seen, never met? Dinesh Pratap ji visits us once a week."
In another part of the village, his young caste fellow, Nishant, is studying to become a surgical assistant, even as he helps his elder brother, Chandan, who runs a little chemist shop. Their father left the village 20 years ago for Amritsar, where he worked with a goldsmith, to educate his six children - two boys and four girls. Six years ago, he returned with his family to the village, where he owns just half a bigha of land. The family has followed the electoral trajectory of other Pasis - first the Congress, then the Bahujan Samaj Party and now the BJP.
The Yadav Vote
The Yadavs, on the other hand, are divided; while most will vote for the Congress as it is in alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP), others will vote for the BJP. Rambahadur Yadav owns six bighas of land and has four children - his daughter is married, while his three sons are drivers, two in Raebareli and one in Mumbai. The earnings of the three sons maintain the household. Rambahadur says he will vote for the BJP, adding it is because Ayushman, the government health scheme, enabled him to have two heart operations.
But for Suraj Pal Yadav, it will be Congress again. His grandson, who is with him, is home from Surat during holidays, where he works in a dyeing unit, thanks to a brother-in-law who is the supervisor there. He is just a teenager and had to discontinue his studies after Class 9 as there was no money. He earns Rs 15,000 a month and sends back Rs 10,000 to his family.
For the Yadavs of Johwa Sharqi, life has been hard: 60 years ago, the part of the village in which they lived was taken over by a rival caste, and they had to flee. Then, three decades back, they returned to rebuild their lives. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh comes in for some praise from the community for the farm loan waivers he gave during his tenure in South Block.
Muslims Of Johwa Sharqi
The Muslims are the third largest community here with close to 80 homes. Waris Ali, who has a poorly stocked grocer's shop, says the Muslims will vote for the Congress again. He has 10 bighas of land, but cannot grow anything there as it has been waterlogged ever since a canal was built through it. "I have asked for compensation," he says, "but no one is willing to listen."
A village official whom I had spoken to a while ago suddenly appears and listens to the exchange. Later, I ask him why Ali could not be compensated for his waterlogged land. Pat comes the answer: "He's not really a farmer. He's a businessman. Didn't you see his shop? And he also makes a great deal of money selling fruits. He gets his free rations. What more does he want?" It is precisely this attitude that runs under the surface in terms of religious ties. There is no overt Hindu-Muslim tension, but the distrust - embedded in the soil of Uttar Pradesh - remains.
(Smita Gupta is a senior Delhi-based journalist. This is the second blog in a multi-part series on the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, in which Gupta profiles a few villages in Uttar Pradesh, each in a new Lok Sabha constituency, capturing the granular details of everyday life and the conversations of its residents. The first part can be read here)
Disclaimer: These are the personal views of the author