NEW DELHI: Two folk artistes sing with ear-splitting gusto, exalting PM Modi’s development work. The sparse audience listens with bored indifference, until the duo belts out a bardic dare to Pakistan. A spontaneous cheer breaks out. The singers are support acts. At Rampur Chauraha, all are waiting for actor-politician Hema Malini. The two-time BJP MP, aiming for a hat-trick, is two hours late.
The chauraha (crossroads), about 20km from Mathura, is a collection of faceless stores and a capacious temple complex. Old men in turbans mill about. A bunch of young men attending coaching classes for aspiring cops in nearby Raya nagar panchayat have stopped to catch a glimpse. They are first-time voters. Sholay is her only film they can name. Barring a few women in ghoonghat, it’s an all-male crowd.
Saffron and green – caps of two different colours reveal the freshly-crafted political alliance for the polls. Imprinted with the slogan ‘Bhaichara Zindabad’ (long live brotherhood), the green cap represents Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). Last month the regional party, primarily based out of west Uttar Pradesh, tied up with BJP and became a cog in the NDA wheel. RLD is contesting the Baghpat and Bijnor Lok Sabha seats, and backing BJP in other constituencies. “Feel free to wear either cap,” someone announces.
The temple town has been BJP’s pocket borough since 2014. The constituency’s five assembly seats (Chhata, Mant, Goverdhan, Mathura and Baldev) are with it. Hema pocketed 53% of votes in 2014 LS polls, rising to a staggering 61% five years later, although her victory margin dipped. RLD had cornered 34% of the votes then. Simply put, BJP and RLD had polled a combined 95% votes for Mathura in 2019. In politics, one plus one does not always equal two, but with RLD and BJP joining forces, the Lotus is undeniably in pole position here.
Hema’s second-term Parliament attendance was a modest 50%, about 30% lower than the national average. Voters aren’t positive in their assessment either. Jat farmer Malkhan Singh bluntly says she has been missing in action. But he also proffers, “I will vote for her. Who else can one vote for?” For him, the competition is absent. Neither he, nor others sitting with him, have heard of Congress candidate Mukesh Dhangar, also backed by Samajwadi Party and AAP, in the INDIA alliance.
Dhangar, 36, is an MBA in HR and marketing from Abdul Kalam Technical University, Lucknow. “Yeh chunav pravasi aur Brijwasi ke beech ka chunav hoga (the contest is between Brijwasi (local) and the outsider,” he told ANI earlier this month. Suresh Singh, 65, is the BSP candidate. Mathura’s SC population is roughly 20%. Jats, Thakurs and Brahmins are also numerically significant in these parts. Incidentally, the BJP candidate is married to film star Dharmendra, a Jat and former BJP MP from Bikaner, which increases her acceptability.
Every slogan on view is woven around Modi, “Main hoon Modi ka parivar” and “Phir ek baar Modi Sarkar” being the most familiar. Talking to prospective voters, it isn’t hard to fathom why. Brand PM is the most saleable. Virendra Singh, who runs a medicine shop, laments the absence of electricity in his village Tambaka. “Kat-ti zyaada hai, aati kam hai. (there’s more load shedding than light),” says Virendra, a Prajapati by caste. But he likes Modi and will vote for him because he can reach out to the PM directly online and make complaints or suggestions on his website.
Virendra had received a WhatsApp message from ‘Viksit Bharat Sampark’, asking him, “What’s your opinion of the Modi government’s work?”. ‘Bahut achha (very good)’ or ‘theek thak (okay)’ or ‘kharab (poor)’. He answered, ‘bahut achha’, and received a ‘thank you’ message.
Bachchu Singh, a Jat working in a Delhi factory, is annoyed that his specially-abled wife’s application for awas yojna (housing plan) was rejected. But he says he likes Modi’s work and will vote for BJP. He can’t explain why. Sukhwinder Singh of Bansai village complains reservoir water doesn’t flow to the fields anymore and his pleas aren’t heard. “But I’ll always be a BJP voter,” says the 34-year-old. Sometimes voting preference and disappointment with governance seem delinked.
The singing stops. Hema arrives in a grey MG Hector. After receiving the obligatory mementos, she sits in a sofa with a demeanour that says, “I would rather be elsewhere,” while local BJP and RLD politicians praise her work, especially expansion and improvement of local roads.
In Feb, former PM and the tallest of Jat leaders, Charan Singh – also the grandfather of Jayant Chaudhary who runs RLD – was posthumously bestowed Bharat Ratna by the Modi government. The gesture has presented both sides with an electorally saleable emotional hook.
Reading out mostly from a prepared speech, Hema underlines that the former PM deserved Bharat Ratna, which the earlier government had failed to confer. As earlier, the Bharat Ratna reference draws full-throated approval. She speaks about her devotion to Lord Krishna, whose birthplace is Mathura. “Isiliye main yahan baithi hoon (that’s why I am here),” she says while avoiding any reference to the ongoing Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah case, currently in Allahabad high court. The speech lasts barely 12 minutes. The entourage drives away to slogans shouted in the actor-politician’s praise. There are more meetings to attend, voters to woo.