Uttar Pradesh elections: Where cousins were found hanging in 2014, villagers want to vote out Samajwadi Party

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The “Budaun kaand” remains a quick reference point for these villagers. After being arrested, the five accused were released and the case is still pending. Locals believe this is due to the backing of the SP government. The five accused are Yadavs.

In the last election, incumbent BSP MLA Sinod Kumar Shakya, locally known as Deepu Bhaiya, had defeated the SP’s Prempal Singh Yadav by just 5,327 votes in a constituency with over 3.4 lakh. This time, Yadav is the Congress candidate backed by the SP. Deepu has been the MLA since 2007l Prempal had won the seat in 2002. The BJP candidate is Rajeev Kumar Singh, also known as Babbu Bhaiya.

Not just the double rape and murder, non-Yadav villagers who want to vote the SP out also accuse Yadavs of grabbing their land. Rishipal Shakya of Khiriya village says Yadavs illegally occupy anyone’s land, forcing the owners to work on other people’s farms. Tobacco and wheat are the primary crops in the villages of Dataganj. Since the sitting MLA is not of the SP, Shakya believes he is restricted in all that he can do. Since the rape-murder, there has been increased security in the villages, Shakya agrees, but alleges land grab continues.

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In several villages The Indian Express visited, many residents say they have not been given Below Poverty Line cards, and did not get government rations. Since many state and central subsidies such as that on LPG cylinders are linked to the BPL card, most villagers have not benefited from them.

People in Kaddi Nagra, Kumarpur, Khiriya Madhukar, Hajura Pukhta and Saipur Nagra Bhakriwala say that just a handful of people, mostly the powerful and landed, had got the BPL cards and got their houses built under various government schemes. Among the rest, some claim to have paid between Rs 100 to Rs 300 many times for the cards but not got them. Those who did were allegedly given Above Poverty Line (white cards), which bring fewer benefits. In Hajura Pukhta, a village of nearly 150 families, only 11 people had either a BPL or an APL card, villagers say. The last time such cards were issued was in 2002, says Latoori Lal, 62, of Khiriya; he has an APL card.

Most of these villagers are landless and either work for around Rs 200 a day as farmhands, or work in batayee, sharing with those who own farms. Under the batayee system, the villages say, one family does all the labour on the farm, which is owned by another family. The two families share the revenue equally in the end. But villagers such as Dev Singh and Netrapal Shakhya of Hajura Pukhta and Khiriya Madhukar say that like in many other villagers, the land their family owned was taken by the river many years ago, but nobody has got either compensation or other relief from the government.

Villagers recognise that it is not a party that can solve their daily problems, but their closeness to the candidate. They find this proximity either in their caste identities, their residence or in relationships. Some other voters say they chose between BSP and BJP based on the party leaders, such as Mayawati or Narendra Modi. “Koi sunwaai toh vaise hai nahi,” Roopram Rajput of Kaddi Nagra says.

Rishipal Shakya of Khiriya, who is on his way to vote for the BSP, says he is voting against the SP only because of the muscle power of Yadavs and other party men. “Otherwise, there is no better party for development than SP,” Shakya concedes.