Kushinagar/Gorakhpur: As a group in Gangi Tikar village sipped tea, an intense political debate ensued. The topic was Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s election rally on Monday, February 28.
“The rally was quite huge. (Swami Prasad) Maurya ji will not have an easy run,” said one of them.
“He should not have contested from here. People are looking at him as if he is an outsider,” said another, who made his allegiance to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) evident.
Some others agreed but didn’t rule out Maurya’s victory, given his taller political stature over the saffron party’s candidate, Surendra Singh Khushwaha.
“Illiyas Ansari (the Bahujan Samaj Party candidate) cuts into Muslim votes, it will be difficult for Maurya ji,” another said, adding that Fazilnagar will see a “kaante ki takkar (fight to the finish).”
The debate in Gangi Tikar, a part of Kushinagar’s Fazilnagar going to polls on March 3, reflected the confusion among voters across the assembly constituency.
Swami Prasad Maurya, a stalwart Other Backwards Classes (OBC) leader and the state minister who switched over to the Samajwadi Party (SP), along with his acolyte legislators, is pitched against incumbent BJP MLA Ganga Singh Khushwaha’s son Surendra Khushwaha. Maurya was a BJP MLA from the neighbouring Padrauna seat but decided to shift to Fazilnagar after joining the SP.
Samajwadi Party workers in Eastern UP. Photo: Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta/ The Wire.
Both Maurya and the BJP candidate are from the landed Khushwaha caste group, which is also the most-influential numerical group in the constituency, apart from Muslims. Making the contest genuinely triangular, however, is former district president of the SP, Illiyas Ansari, who is now contesting for the BSP after being denied a ticket by his former party.
Gangi Tikar is a village consisting of largely ‘upper’ caste landed groups and smaller communities like the Lohar, Badhai, Vishwakarma, Kumhar, Kalwars, Chanau and so on. Together, these smaller communities make up over 50,000 votes in the seat. The village appeared to tilt towards BJP, as most residents with whom The Wire spoke supported the ruling party, despite having grievances with the Adityanath government.
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Purvanchal electoral equations; the outcome of an exploitative feudal social make-up
Fazilnagar is in the Purvanchal (eastern) region of the state. Unlike districts in Central Uttar Pradesh, where voters largely decide their electoral preference on the basis of the government’s performance, economic upkeep of the seat, and caste allegiances, Purvanchal’s voters appeared to be hugely divided almost singularly along caste lines. The region has historically been the most-feudal and also the most backward.
A large number of smaller communities are heavily dependent on the landed ‘upper’ caste communities, while some OBC landed groups like Yadavs, Khushwahas, Sainthwars, Chaunaus and so on have emerged as political forces in the post-Mandal era.
Over the last few decades, the region has witnessed the Yadavs emerging as the most dominant, aggressive political force, largely under the SP’s umbrella, forcing an inimical relationship between them and the other OBC groups.
Under the leadership of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, the BJP was able to consolidate a large number of non-Yadav OBC groups to create a winning social coalition of socially-powerful ‘upper’ caste groups, non-Yadav OBCs, and extremely backward Dalit communities, like Musahar, Dhobi, Dusadh and so on. Jatavs or Chamars, considered untouchables by ‘upper’ caste groups, remained solidly behind the BSP.
Jatav residents of Chaknarayanpur. Photo: Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta/ The Wire.
The BJP consolidated those Dalits who the socially powerful caste groups do not consider as untouchables.
The BJP has created a constituency of ‘laabarthis‘ (beneficiaries)
At the Musahar tola in the Doghra village, male residents were visibly rallying for the BJP. “We got houses, ration and the Ram temple. What more do you need from the government?” asked 25-year-old Toffee, adding that he expects a house for his brother’s family too.
However, the women in the community were more critical. “Free ration is good but it is not sufficient for the whole family. At best, it helps us for a week,” said Sanita from the same tola.
“We need work. We don’t get any work for more than week in a month,” said Malti, a daily wage worker, adding that work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has not opened for over a year.
Residents of the Musahar tola. Photo: Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta/ The Wire.
The residents here are daily wagers and are living in abysmal conditions. Yet, they have showed faith in the BJP for years, signalling that the saffron party has successfully created a constituency of ‘laabarthis (beneficiaries)’ in the seat.
However, residents also complained that the welfare schemes have worked selectively. “Some have got houses, some are still living in kuccha houses. Some toilets were built by the Pradhan (village’s elected head), but there is no water in there,” Sanita said.
A resident from the Musahar tola stands by her kuchha home. Photo: Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta/ The Wire.
Construction work lies incomplete in the Musahar tola. Photo: Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta/ The Wire.
She hinted at leakages in the implementation of the Prime Minister Awas Yojana, too. “Out of the Rs 1.20 lakh that we were supposed to get for houses under PM Awas Yojana, most residents got only 1.10 lakh,’ she added.
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The 2022 contest
Akhilesh Yadav’s new strategy to project the SP as a more inclusive party has had an impact on Purvanchal, an apt example of which is Fazilnagar. To dispel the Yadav-centric perception of his party, Akhilesh has given the majority of party tickets to those from other landed OBC communities; in the process, breaking the BJP’s stronghold over these groups.
By fielding Maurya, the SP has divided the Khushwaha community’s votes, which have been going to the BJP since 2014.
At the Khushwaha-dominated Inderpatti village, residents looked divided and confused.
“We like Modi ji and Yogi ji but a majority of our votes here will go to Maurya ji,” said 58-year-old Ram Nagina Khushwaha. Vishwanath Khushwaha, sitting by his side, agreed, “He has done a lot for our community. The current MLA didn’t take care of us. Now his son, who doesn’t have a good reputation, is contesting.”
The 28-year-old Anand Khushwaha, who works in Dubai in an oil rig, aggressively disagreed. “What did SP do for us? The BJP took care of us. It built us a Ram temple.”
Kurmi residents of Inderpatti. Photo: Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta/ The Wire.
His father, an avid BJP supporter, added that there are many like him in the community who will never switch loyalties from the BJP, come what may. Yet, most agreed that SP will draw a large number of votes. “50:50,” said most youngsters in the village, implying that the community’s votes will be equally divided between the SP and BJP.
In such a scenario, the BJP is entirely banking on consolidating ‘upper’ caste groups, non-Jatav Dalits and numerous smaller OBC groups communities. At the same time, it expects that the BSP’s Muslim candidate will cut only into the SP’s votes.
Most of the non-Jatav Dalit groups and small OBC groups The Wire spoke to solidly backed the BJP. However, Muslim respondents were clear in saying that they prefer the SP over the BSP, although they admitted that Illiyas Ansari, the BSP candidate, is a popular leader and may cut into the SP’s votes in villages under his influence.
The SP, on the other hand, expects wholehearted support from Yadavs, Muslims and the majority of Khushwahas, along with government employees and youths across caste groups who seem enthused by Akhilesh’s promise to restore the old pension scheme and generate employment.
However, it may not be an easy task. The BJP appeared to be much stronger in its campaign than in the previous phases, where it looked out-of-shape. The party has been running a high-pitched campaign in villages populated by non-Jatav Dalits and non-dominant OBCs, the impact of which is showing in their enthusiasm for the saffron party.
Amidst the soaring political temperature, the Jatav-dominated villages seemed resolute in their support for the BSP. “We will not budge. We are silently backing Illiyas Ansari,” said Kedarnath Singh of a Jatav locality near Thadi Bhar village.
“However, in Fazilnagar, where leaders have become partabad (those who believe in switching sides), the janata (people) have also become partabad.”
