CELEBRATION IN NATIVE VILLAGE

A wave of joy swept across Paraunkh village in UP‘s Kanpur Dehat district as Kovind won. Residents burst crackers and danced to music.

PARA UN K H( KANPUR DE HAT ): A wave of joy swept across Paraunkh village in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur Dehat district on Thursday evening as local boy Ram Nath Kovind won the election to become the next President of India.

Local residents burst firecrackers and a DJ, hired from Kanpur, played loud music as people danced and chanted “Jai Shri Ram”. Many pulled their neighbours into hugs and distributed sweets. A ‘Bhangra band’ with dhols led the way.

The Dalit community that lives at the farthest corner of the village also made arrangements for celebration.

It first organised a special prayer according to Buddhist customs close to a statue of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar to celebrate Kovind’s sweeping win over opposition candidate Meira Kumar.

For many in the village with a population of around 9,000, Kovind’s victory was a promise for a brighter future. “Now we are going to have the President from our village, our hopes have taken wing, he will for sure think about getting industries around Paraunkh,” said Raju Srivastava, a local resident.

Through the day, residents were glued to their television sets and radios and erupted in celebration as soon as reporters announced Kovind, a former Rajya Sabha member, had won with almost two-thirds of the vote.

Kovind had visited Paraunkh in July 2016 when he became the governor of Bihar. He had converted his village house into ‘community hall’ for locals.

FOR MANY IN THE VILLAGE WITH A POPULATION OF AROUND 9,000, KOVIND’S VICTORY WAS A PROMISE FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE