By Rakesh Choudhary
Thanabhawan is a constituency in Shamli district. It went to poll in the 1st phase of the assembly election held on Saturday and is likely to be in the spotlight. The reason? Sudhir Panwar. Panwar is the SP candidate from the constituency and is the personal choice of CM Akhilesh Yadav. Unlike most candidates of the Samajwadi Party, Panwar has been selected for his academic pedigree, and not his identity. He is a professor of Zoology in Lucknow University and a State Planning Commission member; summing up the image makeover battle Akhilesh Yadav is fighting to retain power in Uttar Pradesh.
Akhilesh’s rebuilding of SP’s portrayal
The first phase of the elections took place in 73 constituencies of western UP. This phase witnessed a 64.2% voter turnout – a marginal increase from 2012, when a voter turnout of 61% was registered during the first phase.
Akhilesh Yadav wants to project himself as a leader who means business. In the run-up to the election campaign, he has floated a brave catch line of Kaam Bolta Hai.
This makes it imperative to scrutinise his tenure as the Chief Minister from 2012-17, in order to check if there really have been visible changes on the ground.
Betting big on the future: Will infrastructure rescue the government?
[su_pullquote]To boost his image, Akhilesh Yadav has ensured that some big ticket infrastructure projects are completed before the election. However, all these have only been initiated around the capital city of Lucknow.[/su_pullquote]
Akhilesh Yadav has ensured that some big ticket infrastructure projects are completed before the election. This is in line with his efforts to boost his image as a young development oriented Chief Minister. Most notable among these is the timely completion of the impressive Lucknow-Agra expressway, which was inaugurated on 21st November. Lucknow Metro, the IT city being built with the help of HCL, an international cricket stadium, and the much hyped Gomti Riverfront project are visible structures which have the spread popular perception of developmental activities undertaken by present regime.
The only downside being, all these activities have been initiated around the capital city of Lucknow. A vast hinterland may have remain untouched. A similar mistake had cost Chandrababu Naidu the 2004 assembly election.
Women’s safety: A step too late?
Two cousins were found hanging down a tree under mysterious circumstances in the Badaun district of UP. | Photo Courtesy: Deccan ChronicleAkhilesh government has failed miserably in maintaining the law and order and ensuring women’s safety in the state. The infamous Badaun rape case, which came under international limelight, and a series of communal riots was exploited by all the parties for political mileage. Besides the party image of protecting the goondas has only made matters worse for him.
Recently, the UP government launched the Dial 100 project and Women Helpline Number 1090. These have been advertised widely as a desperate measure to improve its image on law on order. However, these may just not be enough, and might have come about too late.
Lost opportunity: Neglecting the farmers might come back to haunt Akhilesh
[su_pullquote]Akhilesh’s government failed to address the fall of sugarcane farmers in the debt cycle owing to the delay in releasing their payments. Instead, it was accused of siding with the mill owners. [/su_pullquote]
Uttar Pradesh is the largest producer of sugarcane in the country. Yet, its sugarcane farmers have fallen in a debt cycle owing to the mill owners’ delay in releasing their payments. There is palpable anger and political indifference among the sugarcane farmers towards all the parties. In the run-up to the 2014 election, PM Modi had promised a resolution of farmers’ issues. However, nothing concrete came out. As Khap leader Chaudhary Subhash Baliyan puts it, The farmer is suffering. Modi promised so much that we ended up defeating our own Ajit Singh. It wont happen again.
Akhilesh’s government also failed to come out with any definite policy on payment issues of farmers. Instead, it was accused of siding with the powerful mill owners. This is an opportunity gone begging for Akhilesh Yadav. Jat dominated farmers of Western UP have traditionally been swing voters between BJP and Ajit Singh led Rashtriya Lok Dal. By addressing their concerns, Akhilesh could have created a new vote bank for his party.
Sloppy in Bundelkhand: Relief package not enough
Bundelkhand was hit by a severe drought in 2016, to which the Akhilesh government paid less heed than it should have. | Photo Courtesy: The QuintBundelkhand is the poorest region of UP which has been facing droughts for the last four years. Despite being parched due to consecutive droughts, the region failed to draw Akhilesh’s attention towards its plight. In early 2015, the region reported death and suicides of many farmers. This was mainly owing to their failures in repaying the loans due to crop loss. However, the government failed to acknowledge crop loss as the reason for suicides. Government apathy became further apparent when some farmers received compensation as low as Rs 23. Akhilesh Yadav tried to control the damage when he visited Bundelkhand in 2016 and announced drought relief packages. However, failure to come up with a permanent solution to the structural problems in Bundelkhand may come back to haunt him during elections.
Recent family feud and slew of development projects undertaken helped Akhilesh create personal image of a clean and development oriented leader. On the other hand, the government fell short on many issues; be it law and order, electricity, farmer crisis, etc. The next month will decide if the voters show confidence on the incumbent CMs personal image, or if they trust other parties to address their problems.