In UP's Jat belt, closer to Delhi, it's Pulwama, Modi but in the hinterland, it's back to economic basics.
Business
Standard : Jawli village in Ghaziabad district is about 34 km
to the east of Delhi and Khanupur in Muzaffarnagar district is 133 km
away. The distance is a signifier at least in one aspect: closer to
Delhi, the inhabitants of the rural pockets had the “national”
picture in mind when they discussed elections. Pulwama, the air
strikes and Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s ‘valour’ occupied the mind space. Further away from
the National Capital Region (NCR), the issues were basic, impinging
on people’s livelihoods and quotidian concerns. Although both the
districts -- Jat-dominated Muzaffarnagar more so -- have families
with historical links to the military and one or more members working
in the armed forces, the perceptions about the India-Pakistan
conflicts varied.
If
Jawli celebrated Modi’s “courage”, at Shahpur Badoli, nearly 50
kms away, the students of Baghpat colleges asked tough questions.
Amit Tomar, a 21-year Commerce student, said, “Till today, the
government has not showed proof that 300 persons were killed by our
Air Force in Pakistan. I have two brothers in the military, one in
Srinagar and the other on the Punjab border so nobody can accuse me
of being anti-national.”
Gyanendra
Kumar and Bijendra Kasana are farmers from the Gujjar backward caste,
owned land and a small dairy business in Jawli. “Note ‘bandi’
has finished off the once prosperous real estate business in these
parts. Everything is done in white (money) so nobody wants to buy or
sell property. Didn’t you see hundreds of unoccupied apartments in
Ghaziabad?” asked Kasana.
Yet
none of them blamed the Modi government for the market stagnancy. “We
are looking only at Modi. Demonetisation was good because it
eliminated the fly by night operators and dubious dealers. They
thrived in our region, living in huge mansions with a fleet of SUVs.
Where did the money come from? Modi wiped it out. It gives people
like me who earn modestly, a good feeling,” said Sardar Singh, a
Jawli diary farmer.
VK
Singh, the former Army chief, is the Ghaziabad MP. Yet nobody here
had a kind word to say about him. “He never showed his face. But he
doesn’t matter because it’s all about Modi. Modi ordered our air
force to bomb Pakistan, not the former general. It’s important to
vote back Modi. Only he can keep our borders secure,” said
Gyanendra Kumar.
But
21 km away, at Hasanpur-Mussoorie, a little town in Baghpat district
that’s glutted with private academic institutes, including a sports
college, the first voice of dissent against the BJP-led central
government was audible. Onkar Yadav owns the Devas Public School. “I
am a Samajwadi Party (SP) sympathiser but my family revolted against
me (in 2014) and voted BJP. My sons were taken in by the ‘achche
din’ (good days) slogan.
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