UP Elections: In Bundelkhand, core voters in pocket, parties cast net wide

As dusk falls, a lively political chat begins outside a tea shop at Etawah railway junction on the Kanpur–Delhi section of the Howrah–Delhi main line.

"There is no job for youths. Politicians know if the youths in the beehad (ravine) get employment, there will be nobody to carry their banner," says Arjun Srivastava, reeling out a list of complaints.

"There are no industries here. The government has done nothing. There is no development. There is strong resentment against the local MLA (from BJP)."

The BJP holds both the parliamentary seat of Etawah and Etawah Town Assembly seat. MP Ramashankar Katheria is a former Union Minister and former Chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Castes, while the Etawah Town MLA is Sarita Bhadauriya, who is also the party's candidate for the 2022 polls.

So, will he vote against the BJP candidate? "How can I? My family has been voting for the BJP for years. I will vote for it," Srivastava says with a hard-to-decipher grin.

This was a common refrain as this reporter travelled nearly 300 km from Jhansi to Etawah. Parties have managed to keep their core voters with them and the fight is really is for castes whose leadership is not prominent in the parties.

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Twenty-five miles away in Karhal, the constituency of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, BSP worker Arvind Kumar Jatav, a street vendor, predicts a cakewalk for the SP leader.

Notwithstanding that, he talks about the BSP's prospects with a glint in eyes.

"We have got a cap, angochcha (towel of thin cloth) and a leaflet, all of blue colour. BSP will get votes from Kori, Gaderia, Dhanuk, Dobhi, Kunjad and Khateek," Arvind says.

The fight here is between Akhilesh and BJP candidate Union Minister S P Singh Baghel.

In Shivpal Yadav's constituency Jaswant Nagar, which is nine miles away from Karhal, Rajeev Kumar Yadav says his vote has always been for the SP.

At Konch bazaar, 80 miles away from Jaswant Nagar, BSP worker Veer Singh from Madhogarah attended a Mayawati rally and is supremely confident of her victory. "There was a 10 lakh crowd in Behenji's Lucknow rally," says Singh.

Brijan Gautam, who is from the cobbler community, but has dropped the caste title 'Ahirwar', says he will stick to the BSP since it is a question of "respect".

"Why should we vote for any other party? Even if we do so, people will say since we are Jatav, we have voted for the BSP," he says.

In Nishad-dominated Bhuraguredi in Banda, when some youngsters complain of unemployment, elders proffer an explanation.

"Not even 10 years have passed. Modi ji has just settled. They will now give employment also. At least there is less corruption now," says an elderly man.

With committed voters staying firm with their respective parties, the outcome seems to be in the hands of fringe voters.

Yadavs and Muslim are staying with the SP but shifting their allegiance only if there is no formidable candidate from the SP.

Jatavs are with the BSP but another Dalit caste Kori (weaver) are backing the BJP. Prajapatis appear divided.

Upper castes are with the BJP (some Brahmins straying to the BSP, Congress and SP), but the Kushwahas seem divided after the exit of Swami Prasad Maurya from the BJP, but the impact wears off as one travels into regions outside eastern UP.

In Mauranipur Bazar in Jhansi, Bhagat Kushwaha, who voted for the BJP in 2017 polls, says, "As far as the issue of employment is concerned, there is a deficit on this count from Modi Sahab and Yogi Sahab." He is unsure if the community will vote for any other party.

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