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Coomi Kapoor
RAE BARELI, Sept 4: ``Rae Bareli is not any one's zamindari, there is no such thing as a family seat'', asserts the BJP candidate Arun Nehru. But historic Rae Bareli is traditionally associated with the Nehru-Gandhi family since Feroze Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Arun Nehru and Sheila Kaul have all represented the constituency in the past. It is no coincidence that both the Congress and the BJP candidates have links to Rae Bareli's first family.
The Congress's captain Satish Sharma has shifted from Amethi on ``Sonia Gandhi's orders'' and does not hide the fact that he is merely the custodian, not the true inheritor of the family silver. ``I kept the khadaon (wooden chappals) for Amethi and now in Rae Bareli,'' he says proudly.
Local Youth Congress Leader R P Singh announces, ``This time Captain, next time Priyanka.'' So that there should be no doubts on this score. Sharma scoffs at Nehru's claim to be part of the family, though he is a second cousin of Indira Gandhi. ``The day Nehru joined the BJP, he becamea gaddar (traitor) to the family.'' Nehru says he is not interested in taking advantage of his family name and points out that in any case it does not always work. ``Vikram Kaul, Sheila bua's son lost the seat in 1991 and Deepa Kaul her daughter lost her deposit in 1996.''
Both VIP guest artistes, as some locals refer to Nehru and Sharma sarcastically, were selected by their respective party high commands in Delhi without consulting the local party units, who are understandably miffed. Since the sitting BJP MP, Ashok Singh, had in any case defected to the Congress a month earlier, the BJP local unit is resigned to the outsider, even though his work culture is rather different from theirs.
In the Congress, the internal dissensions are more serious. Akhilesh Singh, the powerful Congress MLA from Rae Bareli and Congress whip in the UP Assembly, has made his unhappiness known. His cousin Ashok incidentally is the two-time MP who defected over a month back to the Congress. Akhilesh pointedly absentedhimself when Sharma arrived last week to meet Congress workers for the first time.
Rae Bareli voters are not convinced of the wisdom of Delhi's choice. ``Pratapgarh next door has five government-degree colleges and we have none, even though we were represented by a string of VIPs,'' says Mohammed Naim. ``We don't need five-star candidates, we need people who we can turn to for help at any time like Akhilesh,'' says Isran Ali. His sentiments are voiced by many others. ``If Akhilesh was the candidate, the Congress would have won easily, now it is difficult to say unless Akhilesh is brought around and supports the Captain,'' feels Surinder Singh, a shopkeeper.
Akhilesh's clout is evident from the fact that in the last Assembly election, he got 87,000 votes, while the Congress parliamentary candidate from the same Assembly segment got only 11,000 votes. Voters were not put off by Akhilesh's formidable reputation: he has a string of criminal cases against him and was convicted by a lower court thoughacquitted by the High Court for the murder of Sayed Modi. ``There are good mafia and bad mafia'' is how Mohammed Hasim another supporter puts it.
Living up to his five-star image and what Congress worker T N Tripathi concedes is ``the Captain's unique style'' a nattily dressed Sharma landed at the Fursatganj helipad in a private aircraft on Wednesday and then drove down to the nearby Rae Bareli town. Within a few hours, he flew back to Delhi. Congressmen from neighbouring Sultanpur, Amethi and Pratapgarh joined the impressive cavalcade when Sharma made a fleeting appearance at the Congress office. He left behind hundreds of multi-coloured posters sporting his picture along with that of Indira, Rajiv and Sonia. Compared to Sharma's posters, Arun Nehru's single-tone posters look rather modest.
Arun Nehru is handicapped by the fact that he has not visited the constituency for 13 years and nobody recalls him having done much for Rae Bareli when he was an MP. There is also a discernible disenchantment withthe BJP state govt, though Nehru who specializes in poll predictions expresses supreme confidence in his victory and maintains there is a BJP wave throughout the country.
Between Nehru and Sharma, the Captain has the edge, even without the support of Akhilesh. But the dark horse candidate, the BSP's Anand Prakash Lodh cannot be written off, particularly if a sulking Akhilesh extends silent support to a third party. No one seems to rate the SP candidate Gajachar Singh's chances very highly. The fact that two SP MLAs in the constituency have defected to the Congress is reflective of the party's declining fortunes.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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