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Kanpur is rooting for Modi

NewsKanpur is rooting for Modi

The industrial city of Kanpur in central Uttar Pradesh, is going the “Modi way” ahead of the third phase of the state Assembly elections on 19 February, that is today. The Sunday Guardian visited the three Assembly seats of Kalyanpur, Aryanagar and Sisamau which comprise Kanpur city on Wednesday, to find that the talking point for the voters here are “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clean governance” and the “positive move” to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. 

“Businessmen are very happy with notebandi. Of course demonetisation led to some losses in business, but the overall impact wasn’t that shattering. Muslims are disillusioned for other reasons, the rest are happy,” said auto driver Abhishek, who believes Narendra Modi’s scam-free image is boosting BJP’s prospects in the district.

Inside the narrow lanes of Kalyanpur constituency, right next to the Aryanagar, the sentiment is pro-Modi, so much so that the BJP here is synonymous with the Prime Minister. “People are fed up of caste-based politics practised by Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav. We gave Narendra Modi a chance at the Centre, and he reciprocated the gesture by making the rich run for their money. Now, people of Kanpur want him to lead the Uttar Pradesh government. He deserves a chance and will get one,” said Avneesh Khanna, a resident of Arya Nagar. 

Recalling the “good governance” in Uttar Pradesh when Atal Behari Vajpayee was Prime Minister, the residents of Arya Nagar and Kalyanpur were unanimous that when the “‘state government and the Centre have the same vision, development is bound to happen”. 

“Whatever roads we have in Uttar Pradesh is all because of Vajpayee-ji. He was at the Centre and made sure that Uttar Pradesh developed and flourished. The BJP never made a comeback because we got divided, but now we stand united to bring back the BJP. They deserve a chance and we deserve development,” said retired government employee Prakash Tandon.

The residents of the area launched a strident attack on the Akhilesh Yadav government, accusing the ruling Samajwadi Party of favouring only minorities and promoting “goondaraj” and hooliganism in the state.

“A few years ago, Mulayam Singh Yadav, in his public statement defended a rape accused and said galti ho jaati hai (people commit mistakes). What can you expect from such a party? We gave Akhilesh Yadav a chance because he appeared to be a promising candidate and BJP didn’t have a strong presence in the state then. Akhilesh may be a good leader, but he cannot shun the core ideology of his party members like Azam Khan and Raja Bhaiyya who have several criminal cases against them,” said Atul Mehrortra, a resident of Kalyanpur.

An ex president of BJP UP Gramin (rural), Shailendra Satyarthi asserted that the fight was directly between the BJP and the SP-Congress alliance, with the BJP having an edge. 

“It’s true that the SP has given freebies like laptops and cycles to the public. But the voter is looking for better governance this time. Narendra Modi has projected himself as a non-corrupt leader whose focus is only development. People are not questioning his intent, and that’s a big achievement for any political leader,” he said.

 Residents of Chamanganj in Sisamau constituency praised the BJP, but said their vote would go with the SP.

MODI WAVE 

Dr A.K. Verma, political scientist and professor at Christ University in Kanpur echoed a similar sentiment. Putting the impact of “Modi wave” and divisions in the Samajwadi family into perspective, he said, “A very strong undercurrent has built up for the BJP recently. In the third phase particularly, the BJP does not have any stakes because 80% of the seats are with the SP. The BJP has a ready share of just 5-6 seats: this can only go up, but will not go down. Also, the SP is facing dissidents within the family and at the constituency level. The potential candidates who were deprived of tickets from the SP are rebelling. These candidates have not gone to the Congress. They are either with some other parties, or are contesting independently. Also, the Congress is not helping the coalition to win at all because of its lax approach.”

When asked whether or not Kanpur would go the BJP’s way, he said he was confident that it wouldn’t just be Kanpur, but also the neighbouring district of Kannauj that would reject the Akhilesh government.

“Kannauj is extremely disturbed with the law and order situation there. The work done by the SP is fine, but it is coming at the expense of security, which is not fine according to people. Modi’s dispensation, on the other hand, is clean and has given the hope to people that the new government wouldn’t be as much casteist or corrupt,” he said.

According to Dr Abdullah Faiz, Assistant Professor, Halim PG College, people’s satisfaction with demonetisation is because of the perceived difficulties faced by the rich whose black money has been rendered useless. According to him, the move has projected PM to be of a clean ideological frame and has hit the right chord with the majority. “Most of the industries in Kanpur are micro-level industries that operate out of single rooms. The industry workers, who are usually disenchanted with the ways of the rich, are happy when they see them struggling because of the money they have lost,” he said, adding that in a month-long survey he conducted on the impact of demonetisation, everybody from rickshaw pullers to bus drivers and passengers were completely in favour of the move.

MUSLIMS WITH SP

While the “Modi effect” continues to create ripples across the urban and semi-urban areas of Kanpur, Muslims were unanimous that their vote would go to the cycle, Samajwadi Party’s election symbol. Interestingly, this undeterred support comes despite many Muslims praising BJP’s candidates for their work and their determination to address the concerns of Hindu and Muslims alike.

“BJP’s Salil Vishnoi from Aryanagar and Satish Mahana from Maharajpur are good people. They talk of bringing Hindu and Muslims together, but that doesn’t mean our community’s votes would go with them. We have never voted for the BJP, and we will not this time too,” said Abdul Haq from the Muslim-majority Chamanganj area of Sisamau constituency.

Another Muslim man from the same area, Arshad Naseem, said that the SP had worked in the interest of the Muslims by providing different facilities that were not provided when BSP’s Mayawati was Chief Minister. “We would not get electricity for more than 10-14 hours during Mayawati’s government. But now, we get electricity almost the whole day. Also, they constructed a long pending road between Shuklaganj area of Kanpur and Unnao. Earlier it used to take more than one hour to reach Unnao, but now the commute does not take more than half an hour. The SP has stood by its promises, unlike the other parties. They have at least made the effort,” he said.

Many from the Muslim community took a jibe at demonetisation, saying that the move had made them run and cry for their own money, while the rich and influential conveniently converted their black into white without moving a muscle.

Meanwhile, the strong sentiments towards the BJP have made the SP fearful, whose cadre is focusing their campaigning strategy on mobilising the Muslim community to vote in large numbers.

“The problem is that the voting percentage among Muslims is low compared to the upper castes. This is our major challenge and we are doing everything to motivate them to come out and vote. If their voting percentage increases, there is no doubt that SP will again form the government in the state,” claimed SP spokesperson Abhimanyu Gupta.

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