Women in Bundelkhand villages root for Modi
TIKAMGARH/CHHATARPUR (MP):
Khilan Devi, 18, belonging to the primitive Shahriya tribe of Hatheri in Tikamgarh district of Madhya Pradesh, got married three years ago and has a two-year-old son, diagnosed as malnourished.
The anganwadi centre at the village should have provided fortified food packets for the child every week, but the last packet Khilan got was about a month back. “I was told the packets have not come,” she says.
Hatheri is one of the many backward villages in Bundelkhand region of MP which has a high percentage — over 60% — of under five-year-old children who are malnourished.
The other development indicators in the region are equally abysmal. “We have to go long distance to fetch water, go out to defecate … but there is nobody to listen to our plight,” says 60-yearold Kishan Bai of Devpur village in adjoining Chhatarpur district.
But ask these women who will they vote for and the answer is prompt.
“Kamal ko. Modi ki lehar hai,” says 22-year-old Kunwar Bai of Hatheri.
Though critical of the BJPled state government — and even unable to recall the name of BJP candidate Virendra Khatiq, who is also the sitting MP — the women here are Modi fans. “Modi hamari sunega,” is the general refrain among villagers of Tikamgarh constituency that goes to poll on April 17.
BJP flags and posters with Modi’s picture is a common sight.
Local shopkeepers, most of them BJP supporters, pooled-in money to celebrate Ramnavmi on Wednesday. They decorated the market with saffron flags and offered free food to locals.
Khatiq’s main opponent here is the Congress’ Kamleshwar Verma. But his campaign appears lacklustre. “The party has lagged behind in tapping into its traditional vote-bank of OBC/SC/ST in the area,” said Raju Littoria, a Tikamgarh farmer.