Baghpat is Ajit Singh’s stronghold because mass loyalty to his father hasn’t diminished one bit, writes Anil Pandey
At first, it is difficult to believe Ompal Singh, the aged pradhan of Malakpur in Baghphat when he says he travelled from Delhi four days after an open heart surgery to cast his vote for Choudhary Ajit Singh. “I told my sons and the doctors that I would jump from the hospital if not released in time for the election. Choudhary Saab after all is our God”, says the toothless, bespectacled elder, clearly a rarity in an age where the distance between the electorate and its elected representatives is ever widening.
Baghpat lies to the north-west of Delhi but has none of the metalled roads or gleaming malls that dot Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ghaziabad or Noida. Though UP’s sugarcane belt is monied territory, its uneven roads and tacky advertisements for promised cures for venereal diseases tell a tale of neglect. The route we have chosen to get there weaves through two VIP constituencies: Ghaziabad of BJP president Rajnath Singh and Baghpat of former Union minister Choudhary Ajit Singh.
We are at Chaproli, the stronghold of Ajit Singh and the constituency which elected his father from 1937 to 1977 to the Vidhan Sabha. Since then the Chiproli seat goes to whoever the Choudhary family favours. In this Jat dominated land, Ajit Singh leads by such mammoth margins that for the opposition the fight is only for second place.
The Makalpur sugar mill, where we met Ompal Singh, as as good a place as any to start a conversation. Soon a horde descends. The adjectives used are different but Singh clearly is their “angel”. Quiz them on the potholed roads and Ompal jumps in: “Farmers don’t need roads. We need sugarcane mills. Choudhary Saab has given us new mills. As for the roads, if they are too smooth and cars begin to race on them, our children are at risk of accidents”, he says. How do you counter that?
Try another one. Ajit Singh lives in Delhi. He doesn't even have a home in Baghpat, isn’t that indicative of a lack of commitment to the electorate? Again a shower of voices, silenced by Ompal’s boom: “What will he do here? Will he labour for us? In Delhi he is working for our betterment. Look how he tackled Sharad Pawar who was trying to rob us of our money,” he says. I try a different tack. “In his public meetings Charan Singh would say, "I am the son of a farmer and hence understand your problems. My son is born to a Prime Minister. He will not understand your pains, so don’t vote for him,” I say.
Ompal Singh almost boils over. “Any idiot can understand that its sarcasm directed towards Sanjay Gandhi.” I persist: “Ajit Singh is perceived as an opportunist leader who aligns with any and every party.” Ompal is ready: “He does it for our good. He needs to stay in power so that the interests of farmers are safeguarded.” And then a wide grin spreads over Ompal’s face as he mocks me: “Poocho, aur poocho” (ask me more).
At first, it is difficult to believe Ompal Singh, the aged pradhan of Malakpur in Baghphat when he says he travelled from Delhi four days after an open heart surgery to cast his vote for Choudhary Ajit Singh. “I told my sons and the doctors that I would jump from the hospital if not released in time for the election. Choudhary Saab after all is our God”, says the toothless, bespectacled elder, clearly a rarity in an age where the distance between the electorate and its elected representatives is ever widening.
Baghpat lies to the north-west of Delhi but has none of the metalled roads or gleaming malls that dot Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ghaziabad or Noida. Though UP’s sugarcane belt is monied territory, its uneven roads and tacky advertisements for promised cures for venereal diseases tell a tale of neglect. The route we have chosen to get there weaves through two VIP constituencies: Ghaziabad of BJP president Rajnath Singh and Baghpat of former Union minister Choudhary Ajit Singh.
We are at Chaproli, the stronghold of Ajit Singh and the constituency which elected his father from 1937 to 1977 to the Vidhan Sabha. Since then the Chiproli seat goes to whoever the Choudhary family favours. In this Jat dominated land, Ajit Singh leads by such mammoth margins that for the opposition the fight is only for second place.
The Makalpur sugar mill, where we met Ompal Singh, as as good a place as any to start a conversation. Soon a horde descends. The adjectives used are different but Singh clearly is their “angel”. Quiz them on the potholed roads and Ompal jumps in: “Farmers don’t need roads. We need sugarcane mills. Choudhary Saab has given us new mills. As for the roads, if they are too smooth and cars begin to race on them, our children are at risk of accidents”, he says. How do you counter that?
Try another one. Ajit Singh lives in Delhi. He doesn't even have a home in Baghpat, isn’t that indicative of a lack of commitment to the electorate? Again a shower of voices, silenced by Ompal’s boom: “What will he do here? Will he labour for us? In Delhi he is working for our betterment. Look how he tackled Sharad Pawar who was trying to rob us of our money,” he says. I try a different tack. “In his public meetings Charan Singh would say, "I am the son of a farmer and hence understand your problems. My son is born to a Prime Minister. He will not understand your pains, so don’t vote for him,” I say.
Ompal Singh almost boils over. “Any idiot can understand that its sarcasm directed towards Sanjay Gandhi.” I persist: “Ajit Singh is perceived as an opportunist leader who aligns with any and every party.” Ompal is ready: “He does it for our good. He needs to stay in power so that the interests of farmers are safeguarded.” And then a wide grin spreads over Ompal’s face as he mocks me: “Poocho, aur poocho” (ask me more).
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