Pin Code 284403 is what a Google search of Khiriya Chhatara will throw up. The code, shared between 35 post offices in this district of Uttar Pradesh, is home to Rani, a first-time voter who’s not yet 20.
Lalitpur, part of the Jhansi division in the Bundelkhand region, will go to the polls on Thursday. Rani, third of four sisters, says she will on her own determine whom to vote for. “We will all go to vote. I know where to press the button,” she replies when asked whether she’d be guided by others.
Business Standard could reach Rani and her family in Khiriya Chhatara with the help of local non-government organisations which work on farmer issues, conversing via helpful village elders who offered their services as interlocutors. All this after crossing the Kuchnauda Dam and long stretches of difficult roads.
Rani, in many ways, captures the essence of what ails Bundelkhand, among the most backward regions in the state. Some 10 months earlier, her father committed suicide a day before the youngest daughter’s wedding. He had a loan of over Rs 4 lakh from private lenders, with a high interest rate, and he was unable to pay as the crop — mainly wheat — got spoilt in the parched land. “He could not even manage to buy a motorcycle as a gift to his would-be son-in-law. The pain was too much,’’ according to a neighbour. However, villagers saw to it that the wedding did not stop.
The number of suicides in 2016 by farmers in Lalitpur district is estimated at 26. In the previous two years, there were more than 100. Official records put farmer suicides in UP at more than 3,000 between 2003 and 2015. The real number could be much higher, says an agency familiar with the subject.
Bundelkhand has more recently been a battleground for ace politicians wooing voters. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah, Union home minister Raj Nath Singh, water resources minister Uma Bharti, Madhya Pradesh chief minister and BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan, UP chief minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati have all held rallies and roadshows across the region, promising to turn the people’s fortune if elected. A total of 19 seats from Bundelkhand are going for election on Thursday, six of these from the Lalitpur and Jhansi districts.
The other India
Rani refused to divulge whom she was supporting. Her neighbours, some 15-odd who’d gathered to narrate the story of why Rani’s father, Raghuvir, had to kill himself last April, interjected to say there was no consensus on who to vote for. Rani, who got married three years ago, made it look like she’s aware the vote is secret. She’s not clear how much she’s studied — could be anything from 7th to 9th grade. From the conversation, it emerged she had never watched television, nor was she aware of radio. She stared in silence when asked about Hindi movies, Shah Rukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor. She belonged to a different India.
Raghuvir's age at the time of the suicide could be 50 to 55 years, according to his daughter, sole adult representative of the family talking to this newspaper. Did he discuss with them what was troubling him? Was there any indication that he could take a drastic step like suicide? Yes, the family was aware of the problem, was all Rani could say.
She said a firm 'no' when asked if the government had helped her family come out of stress. Even the minimum payment of Rs 30,000 after such deaths in below-poverty-line families was denied to them, say the villagers. As for elections, candidates from BSP and BJP have visited Khiriya Chhatara in the past few days. The toss-up was between these two parties in a village looking for change.
Expectations
What’s Rani looking for from the next government? “Loan waiver and financial aid.’’ She explained the amount of loan had piled up over the past few months and all she earns is Rs 150 a day as part of the labour force on the fields, only when the going is good. For four-odd months a year, there’s hardly any income.
Infrastructure is poor, with no access to electricity. Drinking water is at least half a kilometre away from the home made of clay. The closest public bus transport is at least 10 km away. Lalitpur city has a basic 50-bed hospital; for anything serious, one travels to Jhansi or Gwalior in MP. For Rani’s family, there’s land—some three to four acres, growing wheat and peas. As her brother’s children—Ragini, Amit and Khushboo—play around, Rani says they should be educated, to be able to come out of misery.
