Amid vote bank considerations, UP's industrial hub languishes

Despite Uttar Pradesh being in the spotlight every election season and senior leaders from all political parties contesting from the state, industrial development appears to have been low on the agenda in the political rhetoric brimming with considerations of  caste and religion. It’s amid such a scenario that Kanpur,  the city labelled the ‘Manchester of the East’ and UP’s industrial hub, languishes. The Times of India reported that notwithstanding BSP chief Mayawati’s promises of 12 percent industrial growth, the state is making it to just 6 percent. Despite being an industrial hub, the city does not even have air connectivity. [caption id=“attachment_1460487” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Labourers work in a leather tannery in Kanpur. AFP[/caption] Quoting a senior industry executive, the piece says: “If the sitting MP can’t get files moving on basic issues, what’s the point of visiting your constituency regularly? This city needed basic infrastructure, air connectivity and labour availability.” Amar Singh, former SP leader who recently joined RLD,  said that splitting UP would be the only way for the state to grow.  “Development in UP is not possible without dividing it,” DNA quoted him as saying. Similar bids to ‘divide and develop’ have been made in the past by  Mayawati and Congress’ Jairam Ramesh. Even when the Telangana issue was simmering, Zee News quoted Ramesh as saying: “No political party can govern UP effectively the way the state is configured.” Whether its the geography, inefficacy of governance or a sidelining of the development agenda during every poll season, Kanpur’s future prospects are equally problematic. The TOI report says: “SP has fielded a noted local industrialist Surendra Mohan Agarwal, who may empathise with the commercial class of the city. But BSP has relied on the caste card with Saleem Ahmed while Aam Aadmi Party’s philanthropist surgeon Mehmood Rehmani may be good for the poor but has scant knowledge of what ails the industry.”