Thanks to the presence of Jaya Prada in the fray here, the city has become the hub of Bollywood stars. But can Jaya's glamour overcome the strong emotional bond that the people of Rampur enjoy with the sitting Congress member Begum Noor Bano?
No, is the common refrain but for the palpable fear of rigging on poll day. The public perception is that the Samajwadi Party (SP) could play every possible trick from the rigging book to demolish Noor Bano's hold on Rampur. And this fear is not restricted to the Congress workers; it has afflicted the common man on the street too.
People say that the SP has made the Rampur seat a prestige issue as Jaya is Amar Singh's choice. In a do-or-die battle launched by Mulayam Singh Yadav's brigade, the local minister Mohammad Azam Khan has even threatened to abandon his home district if Jaya loses the seat. On Mulayam's advice, Azam — who is handling Jaya's campaign — has toned down his tenor against Noor Bano as his offensive language was proving counter-productive.
Voters, meanwhile, are enjoying the limelight that Jaya's presence has brought to the seat. Stars like Anil Kapoor, Raj Babbar and Johny Lever have done their bit for Jaya's campaign. Going by the worrisome look on the faces of the Congress workers one can conclude that it will not be a cakewalk for Noor Bano.
{{/usCountry}}Voters, meanwhile, are enjoying the limelight that Jaya's presence has brought to the seat. Stars like Anil Kapoor, Raj Babbar and Johny Lever have done their bit for Jaya's campaign. Going by the worrisome look on the faces of the Congress workers one can conclude that it will not be a cakewalk for Noor Bano.
{{/usCountry}}The BJP has fielded Rajendra Kumar Sharma. "He is an outsider like Jaya," said a shopkeeper on the Bareilly-Rampur highway. "The contest would have been interesting if the BJP had fielded Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi to whom Noor Bano had lost in 1998." Noor had avenged the defeat in 1999. But the BJP's political calculations are that in a fight for Muslim votes among the three main contenders — the SP, Congress and BSP — Sharma may scrape through.
In Rorakala village people say support for Noor Bano extends across all caste and communities.
However, with Afroz (BSP) and Jaya around, they admit that there will be a division of votes between the Congress and the SP.