As Kanpur votes today, note ban will be an issue

IT’S NOT without reason that BJP leaders are avoiding talking about demonetisation at their rallies in Uttar Pradesh. In Kanpur, demonetisation evokes different reactions in different areas, even though the theme of distress is universal.

If people are angry in Muslim-dominated Kanpur Cantonment constituency, Brahmin traders of Arya Nagar say it was necessary for the nation. Similarly, if a trader from the Baniya community in Govind Nagar feels it has caused enough damage to him to shift his loyalties away from BJP, a Baniya in Arya Nagar may feel the distress but would still stick with the BJP, given the lack of options.

Gingerly chipping away at rough edges of leather strips, which will be turned turn into belts after the finishing work at Sarayya area of Jajmau, in Kanpur Cantt, Raju Miyan Beltwale (belt-maker) says, “Forget the poor health of the leather industry - it is notebandi (demonetisation) that has finished us. I do not know what the man (no name taken but obvious reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation decision) was thinking. It cost him nothing but finished us completely. I have been in this business for 35 years,andhaveseenbothgoodandbadtimes. For the first time my earnings have come down to 20 per cent of what they were.”

A few shops away, Mohammed Wasim throws expletives as he unloads leather from his horse cart. “Who gained (from demonetisation)? The rich have remained rich, the poor have become poorer,” he says. “In the last couple of months I have not got work (he transports goods on his cart) for more than once a week. I earned Rs 600, of which Rs 300 was spent feeding the horse.”

At Collectorganj Ghanta Ghar in Kanpur, restaurant owner Jeetendra Dixit says demonetisation has done a lot of good. His restaurant is right in front of a massive Samajwadi Party hoarding, advertising that the state government is providing 24-hour electricity. Admitting that the hoarding is not off the mark, Dixit says, “Everyone suffered from note-bandi, but it was for the good of the country. Things have come back to normal now. All hawala operators and fake currency racketeers have lost their money.”

Not everyone shares this enthusiasm. Prashant Chaurasiya, a taxi driver in Govind Nagar, says demonetisation has hurt the poor badly. “People have suffered losses. Our community is the worst hit.”