Cacophony of polls missing in 4 Magadh constituencies

GAYA: Despite the hullabaloo on television channels and the social media, the general cacophony of the Lok Sabha election in the hinterland of the four constituencies going to the polls in the first phase on April 11 is missing.
People don’t discuss about the elections openly and even on prodding, they only try to deflect the issues – apparently not wanting to talk about their preferences.“Why should I reveal about my preferences? Am I supposed to disclose the name of the candidate or the party of my choice?” asked Ratan Rajwanshi (34), a resident of Makandumpur under Gaya Lok Sabha (reserved) constituency.
The first phase of election is slated to be held in Gaya (reserved), Aurangabad, Nawada and Jamui (SC) constituencies in Magadh region. All these four constituencies are Maoist-hit. At times election campaign vehicles of the contestants in the fray stop at a particular place and depart for another location just to make it feel the election is at hand.
“Only six days are left for the D-Day, but the mood is yet to pick up as was evident in 2014 and 2009 general elections. In fact, political colour is missing from the election. Needless to say, Lalu’s rhetoric used to add colour to the electioneering, which is not the case this time,” said Pramod Kumar (67), a resident of Madanpur under Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency.
On the contrary, Ghanshyam Singh (90), who has been taking part in the electoral process since 1952, said, “Earlier, the voices of prominent leaders would blare through streets and film songs uploaded with political messages. A number of youth used to gather near megaphone fixed vehicles to listen to the professional speeches of the leaders.”
However, all those things are now a history. “Elections are like festivals in India. However, the festive mood is missing. The people have lost interest with the passage of time. It’s hard time to think over the matter,” said septuagenarian Birenda Kumar Singh alias Darogaji, a resident of Budhni village under Nawada Lok Sabha seat.
Political analyst D M Diwakar said there two reasons were mainly responsible behind elections in India losing its charm. First, the political parties don’t focus on fulfilling the promises made in their election manifestos and, second, people have started realising that candidates don’t matter for them (political parties).
Elaborating further, Diwakar said, “Candidates are changed by the political parties frequently, no matter which party they were earlier associated with. As a result, people feel that all parties follow the same principle. In fact, no principle is the principle of all parties these days.”
The issues that matter hardly get prominence in the election campaign. Take the case of the Falgu river in Gaya. “The issue has been gathering dust for decades. With no industry, unemployment is at its peak. People migrate from here to states like Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra to get jobs. But this is not the issue for any political party,” lamented Naseem Ahmad (54), a resident of Gaya.
Similarly, the issue of Warisliganj Sugar Mill under Nawada Lok Sabha constituency becomes a topic of discussion among the electorate as well as the leaders of prominent political parties during elections in the state. But the matter loses its importance once the elections are over. In Jamui, the issue related to farmers’ loan and lack of irrigational facilities are not getting any place in the election campaign.
The electioneering will come to an end at 5pm on April 9. Every candidate, therefore, is busy in trying to cover most of the villages under the constituency. Rajnandan Yadav, an RJD leader, said, “Madamji (referring to Vibha Devi) is working 12-14 hours a day. She leaves home for campaigning early in the morning and returns late in the night.”
Vibha, wife of rape accused and suspended RJD MLA Rajballabh Yadav, is trying her luck from Nawada Lok Sabha seat. But Rajballabh’s native village Iglish in Nawada wore a deserted look when his scribe visited on Tuesday. The people were engrossed in their work as if they were not aware of elections.