The assembly poll fray in Prayagraj region is an interesting mix of candidates this time around.
Facing well-off candidates, who are fighting elections from big political parties or as independents, are daily-wage labourers, rural housewives, women’s self-help group members and utensil sellers. They are all vying for a chance to get elected to the state legislative assembly from different constituencies making use of their constitutional right to contest polls.
From Bara seat is Jan Kalyan Party’s Ravita Devi, 37, a resident of village Seedh Tikat in Sarehar Khurd area of Shankargarh development block fighting her very first assembly polls. A housewife and a mother of three teenage kids — one son and two daughters — Ravita, who has studied till Class 8, recently become active as a member of a women’s self-help group (SHG) in her region. And it’s the rural women who have pushed her to contest the polls and fight for their welfare. Her husband Dharmendra Kumar is a daily-wage labourer working at construction sites, and between them, the couple earns ₹12,000 to ₹15,000 a month.
“I had contested the 2021 Zila Panchayat elections from Shakargarh and lost by mere 200 votes. The women in SHGs convinced me to fight the assembly polls and even contributed by collecting the ₹5,000 needed to file the nomination papers. My husband too is supporting me,” shared Ravita, claiming she has the support of thousands of women members of SHGs, including 13,000 in just her development block alone.
Another candidate from Bara is Rajendra Prasad, 37, contesting as an independent candidate taking on BSP’s Ajay Kumar, Congress’s Manju Sant and Apna Dal (S)-BJP candidate Vachaspati. A resident of Shakti Nagar in Chaka area of Karachhana, Rajendra, a Class 12 pass and makes a living by painting and whitewashing homes. He earns around ₹8,000 to ₹9,000 per month on average.
{{/usCountry}}Another candidate from Bara is Rajendra Prasad, 37, contesting as an independent candidate taking on BSP’s Ajay Kumar, Congress’s Manju Sant and Apna Dal (S)-BJP candidate Vachaspati. A resident of Shakti Nagar in Chaka area of Karachhana, Rajendra, a Class 12 pass and makes a living by painting and whitewashing homes. He earns around ₹8,000 to ₹9,000 per month on average.
{{/usCountry}}“This is the very first time that I am contesting an election. Being poor and a rural resident, I understand the pain and suffering of the people. I believe the country needs people like me in the state assembly if the poor are ever to live a life of dignity,” said Rajendra, a father of three teenaged kids, busy campaigning with his wife Rajrani, who is a housewife.
No different is Chheddu, 51, who makes a living by selling kitchen utensils on his bicycle, visiting rural homes. Chheddu is contesting the polls as an independent from Kaushambi’s Sirathu seat against the heavyweights like deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya and Apna Dal (K)-SP candidate Pallavi Joshi. An illiterate and a resident of the Shamsabad area of Sirathu, Chheddu is relying on his vocal power to woo voters with a board hanging around his neck sharing his details. “I am a veteran when it comes to fighting elections. I am fighting for a positive change to make a poor man’s voice heard,” he says. In 2001, he contested his first Panchayat elections and won. In 2006 contested to become a block development council member and lost. Unmindful of the defeats, Chheddu has fought the 2014 and 2019 parliamentary polls, besides the 2012 and 2017 assembly polls. He was also in the fray in the 2014 by-election, besides contesting the 2011 Zila Panchayat elections. Needless to say, he lost all. His wife Urmila Devi, too, has contested the 2006 and 2015 Zila Panchayat polls and lost both times.
Also contesting the election is 29-year-old Santosh Kumar, a resident of Geruwa Deeh village of Manda development block, fighting his first-ever election and contesting from Koraon seat as Sanatan Sanskriti Raksha Dal candidate. Newly married and having a five-month-old son, Santosh makes around ₹15,000 per month working as a farm labourer on lands of well-off farmers. “I had a deep desire to contest polls and highlight problems of people like me. With help of fellow villagers, I have entered the fight, and I am hopeful that farmers and villagers, who see me as one of them, will elect me,” shared Santosh, busy campaigning on foot.
Similarly, 65-year-old Gopal Svaroop Joshi, a retired clerk of the Jal Nigam department, is also fighting the election as an independent candidate from Allahabad South, taking on, among others, cabinet minister and BJP candidate Nand Gopal Gupta “Nandi”. The Attarsuiya locality resident is busy canvassing with his wife Usha, who too has contested the mayoral polls in 2012 and 2017, unsuccessfully. Gopal has been contesting polls since 1996 when he contested the assembly elections and later also the 2009 Parliamentary elections. In 2017 too, he had filed the papers in the assembly polls but his nomination was rejected. “With kids well-settled, I am now in my 17th year of retirement. All I want is an opportunity to serve the people, and even if I fail, I would have strengthened the Indian democracy by contesting the elections,” says Gopal Svaroop, who is relying on a campaign with a personal touch visiting homes and marketplaces.