As campaigning for the Ghosi bypoll came to an end, Akhilesh Yadav issued an appeal to voters; however, on the ground, there is dismay that in this battle of prestige, the real issues have been overlooked.
Yadav’s appeal, addressed to the ‘respected voters’, said that the victory of the Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Sudhakar Singh was not a victory of the party but of the people. “Make yourself win”, read the appeal.
SP has the support of the Congress, Rashtriya Lok Dal and Apna Dal (K) among other parties. It is thus viewed as a fight between the INDIA alliance and the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and its allies.
Yadav’s one-page appeal said that Ghosi had never been in the news as much. “The country’s eyes are on Ghosi…a defeat of the BJP candidate will teach [a lesson to] the party which supports turncoats and buys MLAs”.
The reference is to Dara Singh Chauhan, a former minister in the first Yogi Adityanath cabinet. Chauhan, fearing that he would not get a ticket again, switched to the Samajwadi Party in the 2022 polls. He resigned as an MLA barely a year later and again switched over to the BJP, which lauded his return home.
In Ghosi- which is in UP’s most backward eastern region, voters are however dismayed that the high-profile contest has taken away attention from the real issues. These include a shutdown cotton mill, a loss-making sugar mill, unemployment that was leading to the mass exodus of the young, the problems of sugarcane growers and no hope on doubling farmers’ income.
Devendra Prasad Mishra, a farmer in Alinagar village said, “We do not care who wins. All we care about is who listens to our problems. How can it be forgotten that when COVID-19 hit, we planted vegetables in abundance? How can it be forgotten that it was the country’s farmers who ensured that there was food available?”
Another voter, not willing to be named, said, “It is unfortunate that this area is now in the grasp of turncoats, mafias and rapists. Those who think we voters are toys, will be definitely taught a lesson in this election”.
In another village, Kopaganj, Janardhan Rai expressed his anger at no sign of doubling farmers’ income. “Who knows for how many decades will we have to wait. When politicians come, they are only interested in getting photos clicked with farmers to show fake concern. However, after the 2022 Vidhan Sabha elections what steps have been taken for farmers?”
There is also anger that huge electricity bills received by weavers have broken their backs, leading to them abandoning their traditional occupation. Arshad Khan, a weaver said, “There were thousands of weavers, now there are barely hundreds. Most have now taken to selling vegetables or doing daily wage labour. Their unique, traditional skills have been deliberately killed”.
On September 8, when the votes are counted, the result would reflect how these concerns played out.
