Tucked away 85 km from the State Capital, the Sitapur district, comprising Assembly seats of Mehmoodabad, laherpur, Biswan and the city, is slated to go to poll in the third phase on February 19. Known for its laid-back attitude and wallowing in the
serenity of times, the district appears to be contented with the prevailing state of affairs as it has not seen much of industrial development.
It does not have a flourishing industry to boast, and it is subsisting on an agrarian economy with sugarcane cultivation being an appendage.
However, there a few denizens who strike a discordant note. Senior lawyer Deobhan Singh told The Pioneer that development was indeed an issue that needed to be addressed by the party coming to power. He rued about the shoddy civic amenities, broken and potholed roads, erratic power and water supply and hoped that anyone winning the seat would take care of nagging issues.
Endorsing his views, another eminent lawyer Arvind Masaldan said winds of change would definitely sweep the city.
As the polling date nears, the political churning is in full swing and parties in the fray are firing on all cylinders to garner votes. However, the contest is centred among the SP-Congress alliance, BJP and BSP. Other parties are on fringes.
The city is the Samajwadi Party citadel having elected Radhey Shyam Jaiswal four times since 1996. This time too, the party has fielded Jaiswal, who appears flushed with the glory of his past victories..In the 2012 elections, Jaiswal had polled 58,370 votes against his nearest rival BSP’s Ayub Khan who clocked 48,072 votes.
Jalees Ansari of the Congress had polled 25,000 votes and stood fourth.
Jaiswal is banking heavily on the SP-Congress alliance which gives him an edge over other contenders. What puts Jaiswal in advantage is the favour that he is getting from Muslim votes.
The BJP house appears to be in disarray, more so because of the disgruntled leaders. There is much resentment in the party cadre over the lopsided distribution of tickets, where old hats were ignored and newcomers were preferred.
This time, the BJP has fielded Rakesh Rathore, a businessman, from the Sitapur seat. Rathore is banking on upper caste votes but does not command a good following in the business community. Dissension, discontentment in the party cadre is further exacerbated by the fact that Saket Mishra, an old-timer and who had contested the 2012 elections, was denied the ticket.
The party had stood on the third spot in 2012.
The BSP is also on a sticky wicket. Although the party has fielded Ashfaq Khan but Muslims are not inclined to support him. Though Imam Bhukari of Jama Masjid went to Muslims directing them to en masse vote for the BSP, the ground realities speak otherwise.
local Muslim leaders Shahid Hussain Siddiqui and Qadir Baksh Ansari have spurned Imam’s diktat and counselled members of the community not to vote for the BSP. Now, the party is left with no option but to fall back on its core vote bank of Dalits.