Feb 15: ``Kalpnath Rai and Ghosi are made for each other,'' says Jai Ram, a Bhoomihar. He is from Babatpur village which falls in the Ghosi Lok Sabha constituency represented by Kalpnath Rai since 1991.Ram is right. Rai had made Ghosi an island of development during his days in power. Smooth roads, fly-overs, broad-gauge railway line, telephones in villages, a Doordarshan studio, a sugar research institute, sugar factory and many other developmental projects have made the district unique in the backward eastern Uttar Pradesh. Rai has printed a calendar which elaborates investment of nearly Rs 615 crore in the region in five years, from 1991 to 1996.This time too, Rai is here firmly in the fray as a BJP-supported Samata Party candidate wielding the wand of development. ``When Ballia can elect Chandra Shekhar for five terms despite his neglect of the constituency, why can't we vote for Rai who is synonymous to development?'' says Ram Dhan, a resident of Rewatipur village. Ballia is barely 40 km from hereand is craving for development despite the fact that the constituency has been represented by the forrmer prime minister since 1977.This time, rival parties are playing the caste card against Rai. The Samajwadi Party in a bid to cut into Muslim votes has fielded an industrialist, Azmal Noorani. The BSP, with an eye on Thakur votes along with its traditional Dalit votes, has fielded Bal Krishna Chauhan, while Congress leader Chadnrajeet Yadav is going to the electorate with the stability plank of his party.The CPI's national secretary, Atul Kumar Anjan, is also testing his luck in this constituency, which once was a bastion of communists.``Rai could ensure development of the region because of being in power. What has he done since 1996, though he was elected that time also?'' asks Bhaskar, a shop owner.Rai had won the last elections from here as an Independent candidate and was in jail. ``That was the sympathy vote but sometimes castiest considerations too count,'' says Piyush Srivastava, aresident, claming that it would not be smooth sailing for Rai this time.But Rai has cleverly turned his acquittal by the Supreme Court in the TADA case into "proof that someone was out to get me".The leader may not get a chunk of Muslims votes because of his BJP affiliation this time. But despite everything, Rai remains the most popular leader of Ghosi.
