 "Dimple yadav")
A 2000-bed hospital and medical university, theme parks, shopping complexes, large educational institutes, and even an airstrip: Saifai appears to be a vibrant city in a village-like setting. The native village of the Samajwadi Party (SP) founder, late Mulayam Singh Yadav, is a source of both pride and envy for the people of the Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency.
This time Dimple Yadav is seeking re-election from her father-in-law’s stronghold, which votes on May 7. Her main competition is expected to be Jayveer Singh Thakur, the tourism minister in the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, representing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). While many voters, especially those from in and around Saifai, feel indebted to Mulayam Singh Yadav for transforming the arid region into an “adarsh sheher (model town)”, others see this development as symptomatic of favouritism. They argue that the resources could have been distributed more evenly among other villages.
“Though Mulayam Singhji did the right thing, what was the need to corner everything? So many buildings are now just lying vacant. They could have given some things to other villages, as well. Couple it with the domineering attitude of the Yadavs in recent years. So, where will people from other samaj (communities) go,” says Ram Lodhi, a native Jatpura village who owns a shop in Mainpuri’s Sadar Bazaar. He claims that crores of rupees are now lying “waste” as the work has been stalled on several projects in Saifai village, once the government changed in Uttar Pradesh in 2017.
Mainpuri is a stronghold of other backward classes (OBCs), where of around 1 million voters, the Yadavs number around 425,000. Another important OBC group, the Shakyas number around 330,000. Brahmins, Dalits, and Lodhis, too, have a sizable population in Mainpuri.
The other backward castes (OBCs) are in absolute majority here and that is why, it became the “garh” of “Netaji’s rajneeti (Mulayam’s politics)” for the backwards, poor and farmers, says Bacchu Yadav, an elderly who is witness to Saifai’s transformation. “Despite having a large population, we didn't have fair access to resources. It’s only when Netaji came, that we got both ‘samman (respect)’ and ‘vikas (development)’ here. Though the BJP is trying hard, it won’t find many takers here.”
That’s why Dimple Yadav is campaigning in the name of her father-in-law. Accusing the BJP of indulging in “phoot wali rajneeti (divisive politics)” and “dabav ki rajneeti (pressure politics)”, she is asking voters take forward “Netaji’s ideology”. Her call seems to resonate with a section of voters in Mainpuri, who have benefited from the infrastructure facilities developed in and around Saifai village.
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Lal Singh (33) from the neighbouring Karhal town has a food stall outside Uttar Pradesh University of Medical Sciences (UPUMS) in Saifai. He is hopeful that Saifai will become an advanced medical city in the country soon as students, faculty, doctors, and other professionals start pouring into the huge residential complex inside the campus. “People come here from neighbouring districts for treatment. This is good for both pharmacy business and local people. Slowly, it is expected that this university will soon become a medical hub and a residential township as well, which will lead to ample work opportunities here for the locals. All this is because of Netaji’s vision,” he adds.
Juxtaposing Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav’s attempt to form a coalition of “Pichde, Dalit, and Adivasi (PDA)” with the Yadav family’s dominance in Mainpuri and nearby regions for three decades, the BJP’s Jaiveer Thakur in his public gatherings has been dubbing the SP “Pariwar Development Authority” and reminding the Shakyas and Lodhi voters of the arrogance of the clan.
He is also asking voters’ support for “the dynamic and charismatic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi” and his Hindutva pitch. Making breakthroughs in these communities is the key to success for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh.
Netra Shakya, belonging to Chimmara village, which is dominated by the Shakya community, agrees with the BJP’s assessment that the SP’s current leaders are “arrogant” and that it is time that voters moved away from Akhilesh’s party. “My relatives in other constituencies vote for the BJP and I may do the same. Though defeating the SP is tough here, a lot of people are looking to remove the party from here. Given that a minister is the BJP's candidate, it presents a good choice,” he says.
The fight for representation and justice is not only for various castes that form OBCs. The BSP candidate Shiv Prasad Yadav is also speaking about the disproportionate dominance of the Yadav family within the Yadav community and is trying to form a coalition of the Dalits, Yadavs, and Muslims and dent Dimple’s prospects.
Though BSP has never won the seat, it has been in direct contest with the SP on more than one occasion on this seat.
