When asked about the missing election tempo, a group of labourers near Andretta, where the art gallery of painter Shoba Singh is located, answered back: ``Kya baat kar rahe ho? Yeh to batao election lad kaun raha hai (What are you talking about? First tell us who is contesting the elections).''

The people say there have been no blaring loudspeakers this time, no posters and not even party flags. Nath, an aged resident of a village near Baijnath, claims to know the reason for this. ``With what face will our politicians ask for our votes?'' he says. ``Whether in Opposition or in the Government, they sleep until the next elections are declared.''

And if any one of them does start some work, the nextone elected nips it in the bud. The local residents recount numerous such cases. Like in Paprola, where a metalled road divides Baijnath and Rajgir segments. Pointing to a non-functional hand-pump, Ram Dass, a local shopkeeper, says it was installed by the Congress government and though it stopped operating long back, the local BJP MLA has shown no interest in getting it repaired. A little distance away, in Kandral village of Baijnath assembly segment, a one-km stretch of a road and a rain shelter have been left incomplete by the BJP state government. The villagers point out that the projects had been initiated by the former Congress MLA.

The niceties and promises of politicians last only till the elections, they add. Once they win, remarks Mohan Lal, a bitter ex-serviceman belonging to a village near Paprola, ``not to speak of fulfilling the promises, they have no time for even a thank you''.

-- S.L. Chaudhary