Lok Sabha polls 2014: AAP makes inroads in the rural citadel of Varanasi

VARANASI: Busting the myth that their appeal lay only with the Delhi urban voter, Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP) has quietly made inroads in the rural citadel of Varanasi.

Entire villages with nothing to show but broken roads, no sewage system, half an hour of water supply and erratic power came out to vote in large numbers, divided between Modi Mania and Kejriwal Craze.

At Harpur village in Sewapuri constituency, people braved the heat and waited for two hours to cast their votes. "Kejriwal has inspired us with his passion. We feel he is a farmer like us who has been forced to take to arms to finish the evil in the world," Sandeep Kumar Bhind said. His description of an epic battle only underlined the abject poverty in the area, where there is little escape but in fantasy.

Probed further, he admitted that his heart was torn between Modi and Kejriwal. "Kejriwal should not have challenged the sher (king of the jungle). We need both of them to save our country," Bhind added. This sentiment was echoed across the villages of Rohaniya and Sewapuri. If one village expressed support for Modi, the other swore by AAP. Sewapuri, in fact, recorded the highest voter turnout in Varanasi with 59% of its population voting in the last phase of the 2014 election.

At Harsos village in Sewapuri constituency, Sunil Kumar Vishwakarma, who makes furniture for a living, spoke about the desperate need to curb price rise and provide infrastructure like power. "We believe the time has come to look for change. How long can we suffer like this?" he said.