The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
In Kanpur Dehat, it’s about Akhilesh’s image vs others
77 days after she delivered in bank queue, woman says, ‘Don’t know about others, CM had helped’
KANPUR DEHAT district is 148 km from state capital Lucknow and borders high-profile districts of Etawah and Kannauj. In 2012, the Samajwadi Party had won three of four Assembly constituencies in the district. Five years later, locals find it hard to connect with the party MLAS — many of them say ‘development’ ushered in by the party in Lucknow and Etawah has failed to check in to Kanpur Dehat.
As campaigning wound up on Friday, aheadofsunday’sthird-phasevoting,35-yearold Sarvesh Devi sat with her son “Khajanchi” on her lap in Shahpur Dera village of Rasoolabad(reserved)assemblyconstituency of Kanpur Dehat. She didn’t know she and her son — now two-and-a-half months old — have unwittingly become the centre point of most election meetings of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation decision.
Whilegeographicallyinkanpurdehat,politically Rasoolabad is part of Kannauj Lok Sabha constituency, represented by Dimple Yadav, Akhilesh’s wife.
A widow, Sarvesh Devi is partially handicapped. On December 2 last year, at a time the fight for cash, brought in by Modi’s decision to scrap high-value currencies, was at its peak in non-urban UP, she had gone into labour pain while standing in line to withdraw Rs 20,000 due to her under the state government’s Lohia Awasscheme.inlabourpainfornearly45minutes, Sarvesh delivered inside the bank in Jhinjhak,about6kmfromhervillage.theambulance arrived much later — to take her to a community health center hardly 3 km away.
Theboy,bornwiththehelpofwomenfrom theneighbourhoodwhowereinthebank,was named “Khajanchi” (treasurer) by the locals.
To slam demonetisation, Akhilesh, who gave Sarvesh Rs 2 lakh as assistance from the state government, has referred to the story multipletimesinhisrallies.forsarvesh—who has three sons and a daughter besides Khajanchi — life still revolves around a small mud house covered with thatched roof. The house being built under Lohia Awas scheme still does not have a roof. “The assistance money is all I have for my children. I cannot do much work, so I am not touching it. I hope this (house)willbecompletedsoon,”sarveshsaid.
Sarveshdoesnotknowthenameofthesitting SP MLA (Shiv Kumar Beria) or the present candidate (Arun Kumari Kori) — both have changed seats to counter anti-incumbency — butsaid,“aurzyadakisikebareymeinnahipata, par mukhyamantri ne madad ki thhi (I don’t know much about the others but the CM had helped us),” she said.
A short distance away in Sikandara constituency, from where BSP’S Indra Pal Singh had won in 2012, people appreciate Akhilesh for providing help to people like Sarvesh, and starting a pension scheme of Rs 500 per month for poor women. But most people are not much impressed with the SP candidate. “Jo vote dega yahan, Akhilesh ke naam pe hi dega (everyone will vote for Akhilesh here),” Islam Khan, an egg vendor, said.