‘Baba Saab’ banks on humility to connect with voters

Jai Vardhan tries not to show it as he moves from one village to another,some sitting atop small hillocks,his Pajero speeding across the undulating roads. When he steps out,he sports the air of a consummate politician,hugging the elderly and smiling at everyone,sometimes loudly calling out “Dada” to address those he has no recollection of having met.

“What will you do if I don’t visit you frequently or don’t work for you?” he asks a small crowd in Shergarh before providing the answer,“Tweak my ears”.

To another crowd in a nearby village,he says,“Let’s not talk about winning,but about creating history. I want 100 per cent votes from here.” Then he reminds them,“We are like a family. I don’t need to tell you,everyone knows polling is on November 25.”

Impressed by the young candidate,Munnalal Meena of a village near Peepalkhedi declares,“He is so humble and easygoing. He is better than his father. People will vote for him as he is their hope. The father is busy in national politics and rarely visits us.”

The Columbia University graduate had made his intentions to contest clear two years ago,when he was still studying,by undertaking a couple of padyatras in the constituency. “People were curious to know how he looks and talks when he took out padyatras. Now they see him as their hope,” says an aide,Ashutosh Sharma,who was a contender for a ticket from Bhind.

“I don’t need to use my father’s name. The work he did belonged to him,I have to do my own thing,” says Jai Vardhan as he surveys the potential voters who have gathered in the next village.

As his cavalcade approaches the crowd,another aide fills him in with necessary information. “I have to keep the caste equations and the local dynamics in mind,” he replies candidly when asked whether he too needs to follow the traditional path in politics.

Even as loudspeakers atop a vehicle blare out the song Yahan ke ham sikandar,he calls up someone and instructs him to ensure the other campaign vehicles reach a far-off village only after the rival candidate has left. “Not before or together,at least five minutes later.”

He makes it a point to get one or two youngsters to share the front seat with him before entering a village. Though the seat is cramped for space,the gesture and the small talk he makes on the way mean a lot to the youngsters who get to hitch the ride.

The constituency has been a pocket borough for the family,having been represented by his father and uncle for a long time. The incumbent was a man chosen only to keep it warm for the eventual candidature of Jai Vardhan,who was 22 when the last election was held. Four months ago,he declared he was unfit to contest the next election and proposed Jai Vardhan’s name.

“Only my name was proposed and we had the party’s permission,” he says. He had jumped the gun by filing his nomination the day before his name was officially announced.

Jai Vardhan’s cousin,Laxman Singh’s son,is the chief of the Raghogarh municipal body. “Thank God there aren’t any more members in the family,else they would have occupied even the posts of sarpanch,” says an exasperated BJP activist among those manning the Jamner office of party candidate Radheshyam Dhakar.

While the BJP is hoping to gain the votes of the Dhakar community,the party points at a lack of development and filth in the constituency where most political posts are held by the Congress.

“He is a child,he does not know enough politics,” says Kailash Suman,a district-level BJP functionary while accusing the Singhs of using muscle power to get all votes in some villages close to Raghogarh fort. “They are royal and they are powerful; who will challenge them there?” he says,alleging those votes decide the contest.

Elsewhere,Congress activists are unhappy with the Election Commission for taking its job a bit too seriously and removing posters and flags atop PWD buildings. “Had it been our government in the state,we would have proved our might,’’ says Rajkumar Jain.

And yet Congress workers seem to be at ease with themselves. “No matter who’s in power,our work is done,” avers Riyaz Ahmed of Jamner.