With sitting MP Uma Bharti opting out of the contest and no party repeating its candidate, the battle in Jhansi Lok Sabha constituency has become interesting with party identity playing a bigger role than that of the candidate.
BJP has fielded Anurag Sharma, son of Pandit Vishwanath Mishr who was a member of Parliament twice - once from Jhansi as a Congress candidate and once from Hamirpur on BJP ticket - who heads the 'Bundelkhand Ekikaran Samiti' for the creation of separate Bundelkhand state.
The caste factor looks predominant in the choice of candidates by political parties. The Congress has given the ticket to Shiv Sharan Kushwaha, a prominent Kushwaha face. The SP-BSP-RLD alliance has relied on Shyam Sundar Singh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) while the Pragatishil Samajwadi Party (Lohia) has decided to go with Jagat Vikram Singh Rajput from the Lodh community.
Jhansi, part of Bundelkhand region which has faced 13 drought years since the turn of the century, the lack of water still remains an issue among people but not in elections. Issues such as migration, irrigation, water scarcity and drought seem to have taken a backseat in this election and caste, law & order play a major role in deciding a voter's electoral choices.
Of the 19 lakh voters in the constituency, around three lakh are either Kushwahas or Ahirwars, making them the dominant groups. They are followed by Muslims and Brahmins, having approximately 1.5 lakh voters each. The constituency has one lakh Yadav and Lodh voters besides a sizeable community of traders, including Jains.
"There are many problems in the constituency such as the lack of advanced medical facilities and unemployment but hardly any party is focusing on these. I'm thinking of pressing NOTA," Naresh, an undergraduate student, said.
However, not everyone is disappointed. Issues like the Balakot airstrike, the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the rule of law in the state are attracting voters to the BJP.
"No one is focusing on local candidates. They may be setting equations on caste lines but they won't be able to prevent cross-voting. My friends are seeing the BJP as an option," said Sohan.
Top leaders of all major parties have descended on Jhansi, seeking support for their candidates. A roadshow by Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Thursday had attracted huge crowds and a rally by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also witnessed good attendance. Such a response has kept parties guessing about the mood of voters.
"Droughts, water scarcity and migration remain key issues but none of the political parties has raised these. They lack a blueprint to solve these issues," Sanjay Singh, national convener of the People Water Alliance told PTI.
"There are seven rivers in the region. The Yamuna, Ken and Betwa have the largest concentration of dams, yet the region has seen 13 drought years in the past 17 years," he said.
The problem was in the topography of the area that had extremely fertile land but the river bed was made of granite which did not allow recharging of water, he added.
Singh said development issues were not primary issues for the people, who were swayed by the caste of the candidate. "It is visible in the ticket distribution of political parties too," he said.
Jhansi was a stronghold of the BJP in the 1990s. Its candidate Rajendra Agnihotri retained the seat for a decade before losing to Congress nominee Sujan Singh Bundela in 1999. The Samajwadi Party tasted its first victory in 2004 but the Congress wrested the seat back in 2009.
In 2014, BJP's firebrand leader Sadhvi Uma Bharti had won from here with a huge margin of 1.90 lakh votes. She polled around 43 per cent (5.75 lakh) of the votes.
Jhansi Lok Sabha constituency covers part of Jhansi and Lalitpur districts and is often referred as Jhansi-Lalitpur Lok Sabha seat. It comprises five Assembly segments - three from Jhansi district - Babina, Jhansi Nagar and Mauranipur - and two from Lalitpur - Mehroni and Lalitpur.
UP is facing a three-pronged battle between the BJP, the Congress and BSP-SP-RLD alliance. Under the alliance's seat-sharing formula, the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is contesting on 38 Lok Sabha seats of the total 80 seats, Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party on 37 seats and the Chaudhary Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) on three seats. The alliance has left two for Congress' Sonia Gandhi (Raebareli) and Rahul Gandhi (Amethi).
The polling for 13 Lok Sabha seats in UP, including Jalaun, will be held in the fourth-phase on April 29. In 2014, the BJP won 12 of these 13 seats in the state. Only Kannauj had defied the Modi wave that year among them.
Altogether, 2,38,88,367 people are eligible to cast their vote at 27,513 booths in the 13 constituencies. A total of 152 candidates are in the fray with a maximum of 15 in Shahjahanpur. Jalaun has the minimum number of nominees at five.
The counting of votes of the Lok Sabha election 2019 will be conducted on May 23.
(With PTI inputs)
