Buland Darwaza, the 54 metres high entrance to Fatehpur Sikri complex, in Uttar Pradesh.
Credit: iStock
Fatehpur Sikri (UP): The grandeur of the ‘Buland Darwaza’ (Victory Gate), built by Mughal emperor Akbar in the 16th century and considered to be the highest gateway in the world, at the entrance of the massive Fort in this town, barely 40 kilometres from Agra, can awestruck anyone who visits the place.
While Akbar, who founded Fatehpur Sikri in 1575, had built the gate to commemorate his victory over his enemies, this tiny town is currently witnessing a fierce electoral battle, made interesting by a ‘baba’, who was not a seer though, and a 'rebel', who threatens to play spoilsport in the BJP nominee and sitting MP Raj Kumar Chahar’s hopes to romp home again.
One may almost be intrigued when told that Chahar had won the previous Lok Sabha poll from here by 4.95 lakh votes, the second biggest victory in the state, defeating Congress nominee and Bollywood actor Raj Babbar.
The two factors that may make things difficult for Chahar this time is the presence of a BJP rebel, who too hails from the ‘Jat’ community, which has sizable presence here, like Chahar, and who, the people here say, is certain to eat into this vote bank and the Congress candidate Ramnath Sikarwar, an ex-army man, popularly known as ‘Fauji Baba’.
‘’Chahar never bothered to visit the Constituency after winning ... you won’t find a person here whose home he visited in the past five years,’’ says Suresh Kushwaha, a resident of Kachpura in the Constituency.
Kushwaha said that many parts of the constituency have been suffering from the problem of salt water but the local MP has not taken any steps to resolve the issue. ‘’The government has done nothing to rid the area of this problem,’’ said Shafique, who lives near Buland Darwaza.
Though the people at large appeared to be satisfied with the performance of the centre and the state governments, they do not want Chahar to win. ‘’Chahar will get votes in the name of Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath,’’ Kushwaha said.
What has added to the woes of Chahar was the presence of BJP rebel Rameshwar Choudhary, whose father Babu Lal Choudhary was a BJP MLA from Fatehpur Sikri assembly seat. The rivalry between Choudhary and Chahar was well known. Both of them were considered to be powerful Jat leaders.
The BJP, after failing to persuade Babu Lal to get his son to withdraw from the contest, expelled both from the party. ‘’The Jat votes will be divided this time,’’ said a local BJP leader.
Interestingly, the Congress nominee Ramnath Sikarwar, who hailed from Kshatriya community, which too has a good presence here, had been able to gain traction in the Constituency.
‘’Fauji Baba is a simple and honest person…. he only has two sets of dress…he is always available for anyone who needs him,’’ says Kripal Singh, a local resident.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, apparently sensing that Sikarwar had a chance, held an impressive roadshow a few days back in his support.
The BJP deployed the Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to reach out to the kshatriya community, apparently wary of their resentment.
The BSP has fielded Ramniwas Sharma, a Brahmin, further queering the electoral pitch for Chahar as the former was certain to make a dent into the Brahmin vote bank of the saffron party.
Polling on the seat is slated for Tuesday. It remains to be seen who will ultimately enter the Victory Gate this time.