Despite Kumar Vishwas, Rahul, Congress need not worry about Amethi

Lucknow: The delay in announcement of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate for Amethi is having little or no effect on the people of this small town. For some of them, the choice is already made. For the rest, the antics of the Aam Aadmi party candidate Kumar Vishwas are keeping them engaged. The VIP constituency has always elected either a member of the Nehru family or someone close to it. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is seeking the people’s mandate from here once again amid growing resentment among the younger generation over the continued neglect of the town. The name of former actor Smriti Iraani has been in the news as the probable BJP candidate but it has not been confirmed yet. [caption id=“attachment_1362527” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi in Amethi earlier this year. PTI[/caption] Amethi has been represented by the Congress in all elections since 1980 except once in 1998 when the BJP candidate Sanjay Singh won from here. Singh has since been in the Congress. Despite the association of India’s most powerful political family with the place, Amethi doesn’t really come off as a town of any significance. The roads are in bad shape, electricity supply is erratic and the town is growing haphazardly like most highway towns in Uttar Pradesh. The state government had last year included Amethi in the list of places where 24-hour power supply was to be ensured but a public outcry forced Akhilesh Yadav government to take back the order. “Generally there is power supply for 12 to 18 hours, except in certain localities,” according to an engineer of the power corporation. This is among the many issues that Kumar Vishwas has been raising in his typical style, holding roadside meetings, door-to-door campaigns and roadshows since January, when he arrived here to announce that he had decided to contest against Rahul Gandhi much before his AAP had made the announcement. “He has managed to get some attention from college students, young professionals and teachers and some others, who feel that Amethi hasn’t really got any special treatment because of Rahul Gandhi,” says Anugrah Singh, a college student who has been attending Vishwas’s programmes. But he too is not certain if he would vote for him. “I and many of my friends think he is an outsider and he may not spend much time here after the elections regardless of the result. Rahul Gandhi or people in his team can at least keep visiting this place,” he thinks. However, the poor state of infrastructure especially government schools, health centres, irrigation facilities and shortage of teachers is a cause of resentment among most people. “There are big expensive schools for those who can afford the high fees, but what about children from poor families?” says Anugrah. Many factories and manufacturing units in the region have closed down, reducing employment opportunities for the people. In contrast, elders of Amethi, Jagdishpur, Jamon and surrounding areas retain a nostalgic fondness for the Nehru family, and this translates into support for Rahul. “Kuchh bhi ho, unke yahaan ke saansad hone se hamaaraa maan badhta hai (Whatever happens, his being an MP from here adds to our prestige)” is the refrain from a bunch of elderly people near a government office in Amethi. “We cannot imagine anyone else becoming an MP from here,” says Ajay Shukla. Despite the express support, the elderly people rue the fact that they cannot meet Rahul as often as they would like to. The tight security around him and the fact that Rahul meets only those selected by his core team in Amethi is a matter of resentment. But Congress workers are upbeat and for them the result is a foregone conclusion. “It is a Congress bastion and will remain so,” says Shashikant Tripathi. “Kumar Vishwas or anyone else from any other party stands no chance agains Rahul,” he is emphatic. The eye care hospital that Rahul Gandhi set up here is cited as one example of development initiated by him. The erstwhile Raja of Amethi, Sanjay Singh, has been doing the ground level connect work for Rahul Gandhi and using his influence to garner support in favour of the Congress. As for Kumar Vishwas himself, he has been staying in the house of a local AAP leader and embarks on a daily routine of public contact, small meetings and visits to distant villages. “He has reached even those places where Rahul has not visited even once despite being the MP from here. It is not for nothing that Kumar Vishwas once asked Rahul to mention the names of all the development blocks of this constituency,” says Vipin, a worker of the AAP. Vishwas and his supporters travel by cars or on foot, covering localities, addressing gatherings at street corners, in the shade of trees or an open grounds. “It is a new place for him and he has to meet people because he does not know anyone,” says another AAP worker. Ajay Sahu, a small shopkeeper, is also confident that Vishwas may or may not win but will leave an impact on Amethi politics. Kumar’s open confrontation with local Congress leaders has also shattered the myth of the Congress being unbeatable here, according to a degree college teacher who wishes to remain unnamed. One thing about which most Amethi residents have a unanimous opinion is the memory of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. He had represented this seat from 1981 to 1991. “We all miss Rajiv bhaiya and his affectionate nature, dynamism and contribution to make Amethi what it is today,” says Masood, a shopkeeper. This sentiment is shared by almost every section of the society. “It was during his period that most of the new construction and development took place here,” he says. However, he falls silent when asked to compare the performance of Rahul with his late father. The fact that Samajwadi Party has not put up any candidate from here and the Bahujan Samaj Party has named Dharmendra Pratap Singh, a relatively lightweight candidate, has made Rahul’s task easier. But in this case all the non-Congress votes may go to Vishwas, helping him get a good enough number of votes. This calculation and the goodwill caused by the frequent visits of his sister Priyanka mean that Rahul can afford to campaign for his party across the country, leaving the rest to the people of Amethi.