MULAYAM’S ‘MAIN’STAY!
Politics is the art of the possible. But that art needs a canvas worthy of it — one where a brush with political realities colours the electoral scene and outlines the prospects of the poll warriors in their theatre of war. HT offers a ringside view of se
KANPUR: What Rae Bareli and Amethi is to the Gandhi family, Mainpuri is for Mulayam Singh Yadav and his family. The Samajwadi Party (SP) chief has been winning the seat for the last 25 years. And going by the trend, he may repeat the feat again.
A wrestler in his heydays with the ‘dhobi paat’ being his favourite move to defeat opponents, Mulayam remains undefeated in the political arena, at least from this family bastion. The reason behind his stellar performance here seems to be his strong hold not only on the general category voters but also the crucial OBC votes, so much so that just 10 years ago the four time chief minister created a history by polling 69.96% of votes in 2004 Lok Sabha elections from here.
The other major regional player and SP’s arch rival, the BSP, is making effort to dent the strong OBC vote bank this election. Hence, the BSP has fielded Sanghmitra Maurya, daughter of senior party leader Swami Prasad Maurya from the seat. The BSP ploy is to attract the SC votes, which like the Yadavs and other OBCs, voted en bloc, ramping up its vote share to 31% in 2009. Meanwhile, the BJP has played the Thakur card again. The community is well entrenched in Mainpuri. Congress, on the other hand, hasn’t fielded a candidate while AAP has pitched former bureaucrat Baba Hardev Singh—again a Thakur. How well Mulayam tackles his opponents, will be an interesting thing to look out for. HISTORY
Hieun Tsang, famed Chinese traveller, mentioned Mainpuri as integral to Buddhism, which spawned in nearby Kampil of Farrukhabad. Part of erstwhile Kannauj kingdom, Mainpuri was the place where armies of invading Muhammad Ghauri and Prithviraj Chauhan met.
The battle uprooted the Chauhans—the warrior caste—from Kannauj and forced it to relocate in an impregnable terrain with thick forest cover to survive the onslaught. AGRICULTURE
Mainpuri has been devoid of industries and agriculture served as the economic spine. Nearly 80% of people are into farm- ing--Mainpuri generates highest volume of garlic in the country. But its share in rice cultivation has gone down drastically over the years. MAIN ISSUES
Lack of industries that support the agriculture produce is one big issue. The 114 rice mills that ushered in prosperity once are no longer in business. Unemployment, opening of a sugar cane mill and broken GT Road are among other issues that plague the area. POLITICAL BACKGROUND
Mainpuri LS seat comprises of five assembly segments—Mainpuri, Kisni, Jaswant Nagar, Bhogaon and Karhal. Except for Mainpuri, which is Thakur-dominated, the remaining four assembly segments are interspersed with Yadav, Shakya and Muslims have played a decisive role in SP’s domination in the area.