Rajiv Gandhi set to contest by-election from Amethi parliamentary constituency

Foundation stone of Jagdishpur Industrial Estate: Empty promisesThe hot blast of May whips up a cloud of dust, and lashes it across a barren field which has nothing on it except an ungainly, white-painted foundation stone. It reads, in fading Devnagari letters, that Sanjay Gandhi had laid the foundation for Jagdishpur Industrial Estate on July 9, 1976, "to be developed by the Uttar Pradesh Industrial Development Corporation".The empty field is in Jagdishpur, by the side of the 126-kilometre-long Lucknow-Sultanpur Road, and well within the Amethi parliamentary constituency from where Sanjay's elder brother, Rajiv Gandhi, will contest a by-election this month. Stray cattle chomp the grass around the stone, and a lone shepherd boy keeps watch, lying in the shade of a tree.In five years, not one of the planned 400 industrial units has come up at Jagdishpur. The farmers, paid a pittance by the land acquisition authorities, have come back again to cultivate in some patches. The industrial estate is already a big joke in the small town. Bhanu Pratap, 52, an important man in the town, grins and says: "Industry? Here? Oh God! Where is water, where is the railhead, where is power? Do you know, none of us has ever got power for more than four hours a day?"Deceptive Statistics: If promises and official statistics were any index of prosperity, the 11 lakh people of Amethi would have been wallowing in riches by now. But the long, tedious drive down the bumpy, pot-holed state highway reveals instead images of backwardness, poverty and gloom. The figures collected by district officials confirm the impression: at Rs 171, the per capita income of Amethi-ites is as low as one-fourth of Uttar Pradesh's average.The backward parliamentary constituency, whose five Assembly segments are carved out of Sultanpur district, bordering on its more famous neighbour Rae Bareli, hit the newspaper headlines in 1977 when Sanjay chose it as the launching pad for his parliamentary career.It let him down then, but paved the way for his triumphant entry into Parliament. Six months later, Sanjay died in an air crash; and the 6.75 lakh voters are going through the ritual of electing yet another Gandhi to power.The Gandhi connection brought in its wake a plethora of promises of which the Jagdishpur Industrial Estate is only one. A giant fertiliser plant, a paper mill, a unit of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, another of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited - name it, and they were promised it. The hope of prosperity has, however, eluded Amethi ever since the June air crash, and the district has lapsed into its traditional somnolence.Its backwardness is striking, even by the standards of the overpopulated lethargically governed state of Uttar Pradesh. Out of the 18,821 energised pump-sets in the state, only 376 irrigate the fields of Sultanpur district, and Amethi has less than half of these.The 351 micro-sized industrial units at Amethi, forming an infinitesimal part of the 5 lakh such units dotting the state, employ only 2,000 people. Only two industries in the constituency are registered under the Factories Act. With assets worth just Rs 54,000, they employ only 26 men.Many Promises: Amethi town is a whistlestop on the Delhi-Howrah main railway line, where celebrities seldom halt. The last golden day in its annals was November 30 last year when Vishwanath Pratap Singh, the glib-tongued chief minister, accompanied by Mrs Gandhi, arrived in Amethi with a new basket of promises.Singh, a persuasive speaker, told the district development officers that the people of Amethi should not lose heart following Sanjay's demise, because Rajiv would soon come and deliver them unto light. In a startling flash of rhetoric, he compared Rajiv to Lord Krishna, hoping that the prime minister's elder son - like the divine charioteer - would lead Amethi out of its present plight. Singh has not returned to Amethi since then. Nevertheless, Singh's Government never tires of churning out impressive figures of Amethi's growth. Alas, the figures exist only on paper.It is officially claimed that electric connections have been provided to 1,273 of the 1,296 villages in the constituency. However, as the India Today team went deep into the constituency, halting at 12 randomly chosen allegedly lit up villages, there was no sign of the electrification.Signboard of proposed hospital: A long way from completionNeaman Sarai, Tehri, Babuganj - the sunbaked villages lay bare, the waterless fields turning into a dust-bowl. Said Kifayete-ullah, 62, a villager at B'ada Ismailpur, one of the "electrified" villages: "Nobody has seen an electric pole in this village. It must be atamashaby the government."On paper, 40 per cent of the land in Amethi has assured sources of irrigation. However, even district officials admit privately that the real figure is certainly less than 15 per cent and may be as low as 12 per cent. Naturally, the crop yield per hectare at Amethi is less than a half of Uttar Pradesh's average.Congress Stronghold: Yet, the anomalous feature of Amethi is the enormous hold the ruling Congress(I) enjoys over the minds of the people. In the Assembly elections last June, all the five Assembly segments in Amethi were won by Congress(I) candidates. The most notable of them is Sanjay Singh, MLA from Amethi Assembly constituency and the scion of the local ruling family.Two of the five MLAs, including Singh, belong to the tough, powerful thakur clans. This matches the constituency's demographic pattern; 25 per cent of the population are also thakurs. They, together with 10 per cent Brahmins, form a loyal vote bank on which the Congress(I) can draw unlimited credits.Both Singh and Rajpati Devi, MLA from Gouriganj, exude confidence about Rajiv's prospects. "None can defeat Rajiv-ji," they coo in chorus. While that may be true they are obliged to face uncomfortable questions when they go among the people."Where's the school that you had promised", "where's the sugar mill", "where's the all-weather road", "where's the power line": angry questioners besiege them at every stop. All they can do is to pass the blame on to the officials, the ultimate punching bag down the line.Though the people are not taken in by these excuses they still feel that the Gandhis are their only hope. Says Budhna Ram of Kamroli village: "If Sanjay-ji were alive all our woes would have been over. Now, none other than Rajiv-ji can save us. All others are rogues, just rogues."Ram is not alone in arriving at this conclusion. Says Manoj Kumar, a vendor of soft drinks on what passes for the main street of Amethi: 'I'm sure it'll be a victory of Rajiv Gandhi. But this will be his victory, not Congress(I)'s." Between Sanjay, whom Amethi returned by a margin of 126,000 votes, and Rajiv, the people see a highly advantageous line of succession.Working Overtime: However, with Rajiv heading for Amethi following a cliff-hanging nomination drama enacted in New Delhi, the Congress(I) bosses of Uttar Pradesh were working overtime to regain something they had taken for granted - popular confidence.As late as May 3, a junior engineer of Sud and Sud, a New Delhi-based construction company, rushed to Amethi to put up the board and start digging work for the 500-bed Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital on a 40-acre plot of land donated by Sanjay Singh. It will be the eighth hospital of that size in the state, and, more than anything else, the board is being painted in bright day-glo lest anyone misses out on it.The man entrusted with the facelifting operation for the party is Veer Bahadur Singh, 43, the short, dark, wiry irrigation minister in the state cabinet who has taken over as Rajiv's campaign manager. Singh, an earthy politician, sprinkles sweet words on frayed tempers with much more finesse than he has put water in the fields. Says Singh: "Amethi has made great strides under the Congress(I) rule. It will make even greater strides after Rajiv-ji gets elected from here."Singh's tactical foresight prompted him to camp at Amethi since early May. As the Congress(I) high command's new confidante, his shadow now lengthens across the state's politics. The party volunteers report to him, as he gears up the party outfit for Rajiv's active campaign, due to start this fortnight.As jeeps begin to rev up, carrying leaflets, microphones and campaign assistants, Singh gets busy to make preparations for Rajiv's arduous summer sortie. The state government got applied a fresh coat of paint to the inspection bungalow at Gouriganj. where the star candidate will stay, and ordered the installation of two one-ton air-conditioners.Loose ends were being tied up at all levels. Pulak Chatterjee, the district magistrate, was summoned to New Delhi last fortnight apparently to attend a training camp, though the coincidence might have been meaningful. About a dozen transfers have been ordered last month at the level of tehsildars, which again is explained as a coincidence.Ranged against this painstaking preparation, the Opposition attempts to put up a fight are, at their best, sketchy. Ravindra Pratap Singh, the macho hero of the Janata Party who created history by defeating Sanjay in 1977, is roaming in the wilderness since his defeat in the 1980 parliamentary elections. He is unlikely to join the fray. Whoever takes his place might be a political sacrifice.There are seven roads that criss-cross Amethi, connecting its dingy villages and thatched-roof hamlets with the rest of the state. All but one of the roads are uniformly bad, their metal tops eroded by years of neglect. Only one, the Amethi-Rae Bareli Road, winds smoothly down the rolling countryside. The people humorously call it the "Ma-beta road".Published By: AtMigration Published On: Nov 21, 2013 10:13 IST--- ENDS ---

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Rajiv Gandhi set to contest by-election from Amethi parliamentary constituency

The empty field is in Jagdishpur, by the side of the 126-kilometre-long Lucknow-Sultanpur Road, and well within the Amethi parliamentary constituency from where Sanjay's elder brother, Rajiv Gandhi, will contest a by-election this month.

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