UP polls: A tale of high hopes and acute deprivation in Uma Bharati's constituency

CHARKHARI: Dotted with hillocks, Charkhari, on the border of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, is a story of high hopes and acute deprivation as the political debate in the newly de-reserved constituency now revolves around firebrand Uma Bharati.

The high profile BJP leader's candidature from this Assembly segment, which was earlier a reserved seat, has brought it in sharp focus in the UP Assembly elections, but the attention has done little to alleviate the squalor in the area.

Though winning the seat would not be a herculean task for the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, she faces the daunting challenge of meeting the expectations of the people, who appear to be looking for a saviour to bail them out of the present morass.

Like in most other constituencies of Bundelkhand, Charkhari has maximum votes from the Scheduled Castes, including Jatavs, at around 1 lakh, followed by almost 70,000 Lodhs and almost 30,000 each from Brahmins, Kushwahas and Yadavs.

The ruling Bahujan Samaj Party has fielded Rath MLA Chaudhary Dhooram, a Lodh, from the seat.

The Lodh votes, however, appear to have substantially moved to Bharati's kitty, a Lodh herself, while Dhooram's personal equations with the Dalit cadre in BSP are not great.

Moreover, the induction of former BSP minister Babulal Kushwaha into BJP has helped Bharati consolidate that vote base in her favour.

Kushwaha also addressed an election rally here. Congress has fielded former Samajwadi Party leader Ramjeevan Yadav from the seat while Kaptan Singh Rajput is the SP candidate.