Constituency all set for direct contest between SP debutant Akshay, BJP’s Baghel
In the land of glass bangles and potato chips, slum dwellers of Firozabad complain that they don’t even get the stipulated minimum wages despite sending top political figures and Bollywood stars to Parliament.
Caste and communal politics continue to dominate the political scene here, but the lack of development is making the voters restive now. Realising this, UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who was in town early this week seeking votes for his cousin Akshay Yadav, promised to allocate more funds for the development of Firozabad. Of course, he had a rider: The voters must back Akshay in the lok Sabha polls. Akshay is the son of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s younger brother Ram Gopal Yadav and he is making his political debut in the elections on April 24.
Famous actor Raj Babbar, Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple have contested from Firozabad during the last five years.Raj Babbar won the seat for the Congress after a gap of 25 years in the 2009 by-elections after defeating Dimple by over three lakh votes. The seat was vacated by Akhilesh, who had contested from two places.
Interestingly, Congress candidate Rajendra Pal Baghel had lost his deposit (polled only 6,341votes) in the General Elections against Akhilesh. Then, Babbar contested from neigbouring Fathepur Sikri and lost to BSP’s Seema Updhaya by a narrow margin.
In the prevailing political situation, the constituency is all set for a direct contest between Akshay and the BJP’s SP Singh Baghel. By shifting Raj Babbar to Ghaziabad, Congress has marred its own chances to register a win from either of the seats- Firozabad as well as Ghaziabad.
“Shifting Raj Babbar from here was a mistake. If not Ghaziabad, at least Firozabad was a sure seat for the party even in the face of anti-incumbency and the Modi wave. The area comprises over four lakh Muslims and an equal number of Dalits. Their vote is bound to be divided because of the presence of several others candidates from this caste and community,” said Shyam Charan, a Congress activist.
The people of Firozabad too wait for elections, but powerful “masters” from caste and community play a big role in influencing their voting preferences. .
In rural areas, villagers are still herded by these “masters” to vote for a particular symbol or a candidate. “Salim Bhai jisko bolengey, vote daley aayenge. Tees saal se aisey hi kar rahein hain hum. (We will vote for the candidate Salim Bhai tells us to vote for. We have been doing this for the last 30 years),” said Noor Aslam, who earns less than the wages stipulated by MNREGA.
like Salim thousands of people here find it difficult to meet their daily needs and do not even earn Rs 30-40 a day. Sadly, a packet of branded chips, for which they provide the raw material, sells for more money.
Firozabad is home to the largest producers of glass bangles in the world and trading is done in an organised way from Sadar Bazar, but the business of chips is sublet to nondescript localities of the bangle city.
Those involved in the raw chip business revealed that a Rs 20 pack of branded chips begins it journey from here at less than Rs 1. Reshma, a mother of five, lives at Mohammadpur Village on Firozabad State Highway, connecting the UP Chief Minister’s birth place to Agra city. Reshma, her husband, children and other villagers start and end their day by slicing potatoes, drying them and then waiting for sublet customers. Pointing to a stack of chips weighing about 5 to 6 kgs, Reshma said: “Itney ka Rs 50 milega Sahab. Kya karein is baar aalu ki fasal bhi nasht ho gaya, bahut nuksaan hua (We will get just Rs 50 for this stack of chips. What to do, this time the potato crop was ruined and there were heavy losses).”
As for the bangle industry, the manufacturers have taken to latest indigenous innovations and technology without any political or administrative support. Most recently they started using natural gas instead of coal as fuel, in order to promote a pollution free environment.
Shattered by backwardness and despair, these poor voters of Firozabad have small dreams. They want someone to compensate them in case their potato crops are damaged due to the vagaries of nature. They want to be treated as a “workforce” and given pension. They want primary schools, and, if possible health centres.