Udaipur: We all know Udaipur for its palaces and lakes, a destination for celebrity weddings.
Well when we were in Udaipur with the Election Express we got to see the two sides of the city - the beauty, glamour and royalty and the plight of 60 per cent of its population - the tribals.
They are the majority voters of Udaipur Lok Sabha seat! Specially the Bheels, living on the barren hills just outside the Udaipur city. Traditionally they used to collect dried wood, honey, tendu leaves and sell it. They have tiny landholdings on which they grow some seasonal crop. Now, most of them work as daily wage labourers under the NREGA. They are happy that the UPA government's model scheme has reached them but the implementation faces the bureaucratic hurdles. We met them.
In the scorching Udaipur sun on the slopes of barren hills with no water in the vicinity, these 60 per cent voters, the Bheels, happily toil for their daily bread.