Dacoits absent from poll scene in their bastions

GWALIOR/SATNA: The coming state elections in Madhya Pradesh are unique for a strange reason: for the first time since the 1980s dacoits, and former dacoits are absent -- as candidates, campaigners, even supporters -- in what some experts see as the waning influence of the brigands in the Gwaliorchambal and Vindhya region, where they were once feared and respected.

The last former dacoit to win an election was Prem Singh, for the Congress party, in 2013, from the Chitrakoot constituency. Singh was a supporter of Congress strongman Arjun Singh. But long before 2013, the clout of dacoits started declining, says a senior police officer posted in the region who did not want to be named.

No other former dacoit contested the 2013 assembly election, but former dacoits, Malkhan Singh and Mohar Singh Gurjar, whose writ once ran large in the Chambal area campaigned for the BJP in that election and also the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

It’s a sign of the times say political leaders. “Their influence started waning in the late 1990s and now it is gone. The younger generation has no interest in them,” says Bhind based Congressman, Naval Kishore Shivhare. The BJP’S Gwalior based leader, Lokendra Parashar agrees: “Even after the dacoits surrendered they were held in awe, but all that has changed. No one wants to be associated with dacoits any longer.”

This was not the case in the past. Malkhan Singh terrorised the Chambal for two-andhalf decades, and after his surrender in 1982, was courted by all parties. He even contested the 1996 Assembly by-elections on a Samajwadi Party ticket from Bhind, but lost. He now says he was used.

Sitting in his modest house in Jail Road, Gwalior, Malkhan Singh is a bitter man. “Initially, I canvassed for the Congress in MP and for the Samajwadi Party in UP, and in the last two elections I have been canvassing for various BJP candidates. All parties made various promises, but did nothing for our community (Meena) and now everyone is ignoring me. My recommendations are not entertained. They are more interested in courting policemen who have killed dacoits, equating it with nationalism.” This time, he isn’t campaigning for anyone.

Mohar Singh Gurjar, now in his early nineties, joined the BJP and went on to become the Mehgaon municipality head (Bhind) in 1994. “We became rebels for a cause and even in public life I fought for justice, but nowadays the politicians are not bothered about any cause or social justice. They are only after power. They only fulfil promises if it suits them,” said the man who was once notorious for brutally eliminating police informers. He surrendered before Jaiprakash Narayan in 1972. Gurjar, too, has no wish to be associated with any party.

The scenario is no different in the Vindhya region, where some dacoits are still active in the Satna-rewa belt bordering Uttar Pradesh.

A Congress leader from the region who did not want to be named said: “No other dacoit managed to become as big as Prem Singh, who became MLA thrice since 1980. At present, two gangs, that of Babbly Kol and Lavlesh Kol, are still active in the region. Some parties are reportedly approaching Babbly and Lavlesh to influence Kol voters along the bordering villages, but none of the dacoits are contesting, and it is doubtful how much influence they have.”

Not much, says the Inspector General of Police of Rewa range, Umesh Joga: “Their influence is very limited in assembly elections and they are more active during panchayat elections. At present both gangs are sitting across the border. However, we plan to have additional forces in their known areas of influence”.

And in Gwalior, says Inspector General of Police, Gwalior range, Anshuman Yadav, there is no question of influence because “there are no dacoits left in this area”.

The dacoits themselves are to blame, say people who have studied them.

“In the 60s and 70s people had respect for dacoits like Man Singh, Paan Singh, Malkhan Singh, Mohar Singh, but the later crop like Nirbhay Singh Gurjar or Ramesh Khushwaha didn’t have the Robin Hood image to earn the respect of the masses,” says Jayant Singh, head of the department of mass communication of ITM university in Gwalior. According to him, the newer dacoits worked solely on the basis of threats. “Such behaviour of dacoits is responsible for their losing respect as well as mass support.”

Malkhan Singh’s theory on policemen being the new favourites is echoed by Balwant Singh, another former dacoit from Chambal, who was member of the Paan Singh Tomar gang. Politicians

“want to be seen with policemen, because that projects them as being patriotic. But they are committing a mistake as common people know that policemen gave birth to dacoits.”

The former DIG of police, Hari Singh Yadav, disagrees: “The dacoits lost all their goodwill because the locals realised they were only interested in minting money. They had no scruples, and people turned against them, making it easier for police to eliminate them.” Yadav, who has been awarded the President’s medal on four occasions, said the BJP wanted him to contest the polls, but that he declined.