There could have been many messiahs in Nalbari but the district seems to have been abandoned to its fate. Six assembly segments of the district are part of the Kokrajhar parliamentary constituency while one each is under Guwahati, Barpeta and Mangaldoi. Ravaged by floods and now struck by a mysterious disease, hispa, that has blighted the sali paddy crop, the district betrays little evidence of the elections to be held here on October 3.It is an AGP stronghold. State agriculture minister Chandra Mohan Patowari represents Dharmapur while Rekharani Das Bora, social welfare minister, represents Barama in the assembly. Moreover, the Nalbari town MLA for three consecutive terms, Nagen Sarma, holds two portfolios: he is minister for public works as well as forests.``But this has not helped us. Last year it was the floods. The entire crop was damaged. This time it is hispa. What will the four MPs do in Delhi if six MLAs cannot do anything in Dispur?'' asks Mohan Barman, a farmer in Dharmapur.``The crop onabout seven thousand hectares has been affected by the disease, which turns the green paddy plants pale, and the authorities are struggling hard to prevent it from spreading,'' says Deputy Commissioner Ashis Bhutani. He claims the district agriculture office has procured huge quantities of insecticides and pesticides to wipe out hispa, but the farmers are far from satisfied.``Sali is the best variety of paddy which the farmers here grow. This is the peak season. With hispa breaking out in a big way, the farmers can see just darkness ahead,'' says Amal Deka, president of Lakhimi Pathar Parichalana Samiti. (The AGP-led government had in 1985-90 introduced field management committees to help small and marginal farmers work collectively for better output). The paddy output, with hispa partially brought under control, will come down by about 30 to 40 per cent, claims Deka.Driving down the National Highway from Guwahati through Lower Assam, one can see that the paddy has turned pale. ``With the electionsround the corner, the government department is saying wait till the polls are over,'' complain the farmers.No important leader of the AGP, BJP, or the Congress has visited the rural areas and enquired about the crop and the plight of the farmers. ``They are scared of us. They know we will ask them embarrassing questions. We will ask for pesticides and sprayers. They give us only promises. And promises cannot kill hispa,'' says farmer Dambaru Deka.Does that mean that they won't cast their vote? ``It's not like that. We do not want to listen to any false promise. We do not want them to come to our village before the election. Let it be over and then we will catch the winner,'' says another villager.Interestingly, in the two Lok Sabha constituencies covering Nalbari district, the AGP is not contesting. In Kokrajhar, it has extended support to Gangadhar Ramchiari of the People's Democratic Front (PDF), while in Barpeta, former MP Uddhab Barman of the CPI(M) is the common candidate of the AGP-led rulingalliance. In Guwahati and Mangaldoi, however, the AGP has its own candidates.``For us all the parties are the same. While the first two have ruled Assam for long, the BJP too has been tested at the Centre. I wonder whether Nalbari as a district has ever been mentioned in Parliament by anybody,'' says Dilip Dutta, a farmer's son near Koyakuchi, which was once a prosperous village but now lies ravaged by floods.
