The holy city of Naimisharanya which falls under the Misrikh Parliamentary constituency craves for its identity as a hub of religious tourism. Rich in culture heritage and home to Hindu mythology, the place had been reeling under a sheer neglect of the political leaders and the parties on the front of development.
The dating of the city goes back to the Mahabharata era and is believed to have empowered Indra with Vajra, yet people of this region never got empowered on any front.
The religious town comprises of Chakra Teerth, Hanuman Garhi, lalita Devi Shakti Peeth, Dadhichi Kund, Vyas Gaddi and Rudrakeshwar. The holy city attracts millions of pilgrims every year who come here to wash there sins yet the place has been unable to register its presence on the map.
“As per texts Kaliyug could never touch the holy land of Naimish but it seems that it is the development and happiness which had made its distance from this place,” the head Guru at Naradanand Ashram, Dr Keshwananda Saraswati said adding there is scarcity of good hotels due to which pilgrims had to face lot of hardships especially during Mela season.
Mishrikh Parliamentary constituency comprises of five Assembly constituencies spanning in three districts including Mishrikh (SC), Balamau (SC), Billhaur (SC), Bilgram-Mallawan and Sandila. They go to polls on April 30. For the last two terms BSP had a stronghold in Misrikh constituency.
The sitting MP Ashok Kumar Rawat is from BSP who again is contesting for his third term. Anju Bala is in the fray on a BJP ticket. Though the BSP has a hold over the region because of its Dalit vote bank but Modi factor is working in favour of Anju Bala. Riding on the Modi wave, Anju is taking the full advantage of people’s anger against ruling SP, the Congress and the BSP. The anger against SP has its effect on Congress as Shyam Prakash Rawat (SP) and Om Prakash Rawat (Congress) are brothers.
“Congress and SP are brothers and have internally made a deal so why to vote for these two parties. The Congress is killing us with inflation and the SP by goons, therefore, we have decided to vote for Narendra Modi,” said Bhannu, a peasant of Mirapur village.
The general perception in the Misrikh belt is that the BJP is expected to emerge as major gainer because people are giving preference to religion over caste.
The politicians of all these parties had represented this constituency in lok Sabha but did hardly anything for the development of the region.
“This is the place where most of the villages fall under dark zones lacking development in each sector. Not even a single inch of work had been done in improving the conditions of the roads, electricity, health & education in the entire area,” said a businessman in Misrikh, Nagesh Pandey.
He continued that even as this constituency has a State Minister in the ruling Government yet people living in the area are not benefited with the schemes run by the Government.
The general perception in the Misrikh belt is that the BJP is expected to emerge as major gainer because people are giving preference to religion over caste.
The voters of the area seem to be inclined towards the BJP because of the Modi wave, however, Muslims, which constitute a major population have their inclination towards the BSP.