Mafia-dominated eastern UP to decide composition of state assembly

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

Gorakhpur, May 1 (UNI) The politics of ''Bahubal''(muscle power), ''Dhan bal''(Money power) and ''Jaatiwad'' (casteism) continues to rule eastern Uttar Pradesh where assembly polls will be held on May 3 and 8 in the last two phases.

Having lived through the paradox of housing Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and Allahabad University, the Oxford of the east, and rampant illiteracy, poverty and unemployment at the same time, the eastern region has nothing much to offer but the presence of mafiaso, criminalisation of politics and unbridled casteism that has dominated election scene in the past.

The basic issues being out on the backburner, the region would witness polls on castelines and the ones who were powerful would be at the forefront as the past records here suggest.

The area, which has been in the grip of Japanese encephalitis(JE) for the last few years, had resonated with the screams of 'Poorvanchal ko machcharon aur mafia se mukt kiya jaye'' (Free the East UP from mosquitos and mafia) but the slogan failed to gain steam and the people were content following in the footsteps of politicians and the criminals supported by politicos.

Dr Raja Vashishtha Tripathi, a professor in University of California, Los Angeles, who hails from this region and is making an earnest effort to awaken the people against the mafia, said the ''participation of people could only bring about a change in the socio-economic landscape of this region.'' Dr Tripathi, a genetics scientist, has been active in this region mainly in Chillupar assembly segment, told UNI that if the likes of Hari Shankar Tiwari had been repulsed earlier the situation would not have deteriorated.

A Congress stronghold till 1989, the backward dominated eastern part turned in favour of the Samajwadi Party in 2002 after a brief affair with the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1991 during the Ayodhya movement.

Out of a total of 403 seats, 18 districts of this region accounted for 111 seats on which the polling will take place in the sixth phase on May 3 and in seventh phase on May 8. Of these, the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led SP has 41, Mayawati-led BSP 32 and BJP accounts for 21 seats.

The region has given chief ministers like Dr Sampoornanad, Kamla Pati Tripathi, Vir Bahadur Singh and lately Rajnath Singh and Prime Ministers like Chandrashekhar. But development always eluded it and the region often hits the headlines for all wrong reasons.

The 2005 riots in Mau and the sensational murder of BJP legislator Krishnanad Rai had been recent incidents but before that most of the eastern districts have been known for booth capturing, use of muscle power during the polls and feudal attitude of a few.

Even as more than 20 top mafia elements, who are either themselves in the fray or supporting the candidates during the ongoing UP polls, the Election Commission had not made its plans secret to contain at least half a dozen hardened criminals in these two phases of the polls.

Initially, the criminals supported different political parties but later riding on their newly acquired wealth through 'various' means became the rulers themselves. In fact, the trend had started from 1982 when two known mafias of eastern UP , Hari Shankar Tiwari and Virendra Pratap Shahi, had successfully contested the assembly polls while remaining behind bars.

The rule of mafiaso which starts from Rae Bareli spreads across the entire route to Maharajganj on Indo-Nepal borders via Allahabad Jaunpur, Varanasi, Azamgarh, Gorakhpur and Maharajganj districts.

These mafias grew in stature in the 1980s and 1990s to have their say in not only in the political scenario of the region but the entire socio-econimic structure of the area was under their influence.

Incacerated mafia leader Mukhtar Anasari, one of the main accused in Krishnanand Rai murder, and Amar Mani Tripathi, another accused in the murder of young Hindi poetess Madhumita Shukla, are in the fray from Mau and Laxmipur Assembly constituencies in Mau and Maharajganj districts, respectively.

Ansari is an independent candidate while Amarmani is contesting on the ruling Samajwadi Party ticket.

The EC has already identified its priority in this hyper-sensitive region with orders of shifting Mukhtar Ansari from Ghazipur jail to Jhansi jail while investigation is on in the wake of reports that Amar Mani Tripathi has addressed the electorate from inside the jail by cell phone.

UNI

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