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Journalism of Courage
On the last leg of her campaign,BJP candidate from Aonla,Maneka Gandhi,covered more than six villages Surauli,Guragain,Gulariya,Jhaua Nagala,Hafizganj,Ratapur,stretched over 25 km in just an hour. At every village,she said,I put a condition I wont undertake any development work in the village where I get less votes due to either jativad (caste factor) or alasya (laziness of voters). She also promised that the village that gives her most votes would top her priority list.
Manekas new emphasis on jativad and alasya seems to indicate that the five-time MP from Pilibhit harbours little hope of capitalising on the Varun factor in her new constituency. On the contrary,she faces the risk of polarisation of Muslim votes against her.
Maneka is locked in a tough contest with BSP candidate and sitting MP Kunwar Sarvaraj Singh and the SPs Dharmendra Kashyap. While Kashyap represents the Sanaha Assembly segment,now Bithari Chainpur,Sarvaraj Singh has switched over to the BSP from the JD(U).
With the Lodhs being seen as her vote bank,the SP has managed to ruffle her camp by organising meetings of former CM Kalyan Singh here to woo the community.
Muslim voters roughly number more than two lakh; Scheduled Castes too are over two lakh. Thakurs,Yadavs,Lodhs,Brahmins and Mauryas also have a good presence in the constituency.
BJPs Dharmpal,who accompanies Maneka at all her meetings,plays down the significance of Muslim votes. The vote share of Muslims is not more than 1.2 lakh. Besides,there is a strong possibility of division in their votes, he says.
