“Work done by the current government in the past five years is visible,” Santosh Pathak, a 45-year-old lawyer in Jhansi, told ET. “Some new parks have come up, cleanliness has improved and piped water connection is in progress.”
Sitting BJP MLA Ravi Sharma has been winning Jhansi Sadar seat for the past two elections and the party has fielded him again. The Samajwadi Party has never won this seat. In fact, for the past two elections, BSP candidate Sitaram Kushwaha stood second here. This time, Kushwaha is contesting on SP ticket. “He is a strong candidate and will get Yadav and Muslim votes in bulk while contesting on SP ticket,” said Rajesh Kushwaha, a shopkeeper near Natraj Cinema.
“The biggest relief we have got is that now no one can threaten or disturb anyone despite their caste. Roads have improved. What else does a common man want?” said Jitendra Singh Chauhan of BHEL Khera area in Babina constituency.
Hooliganism during the earlier SP government is an issue which resonates in every constituency in the region. There is a sizable presence of Yadavs in Jhansi district and that has led to consolidation of non-Yadav other backward classes (OBCs) to some extent.
Rajeev Singh Parichha of BJP had won Babina by 18, 000 votes in 2017, defeating Yashpal Singh Yadav of the SP. The two rivals are once again facing each other and banking on similar caste consolidation. Parichha himself is a Kamera Yadav, a sub caste of Yadav.
Former SP MLA Deepak Yadav is once again in the fray from Garautha seat against sitting BJP MLA Jawahar Rajput. In 2017, Rajput defeated then MLA Yadav by 15,000 votes. This is one seat in Jhansi where the SP candidate is putting up a strong fight. The announcement restarting the old pension scheme by the SP is also finding acceptance among a section of government workers. “For a government employee, the old pension scheme is a big issue and if SP has announced it, they will have to do it. I will give them a chance,” said Yogendra Mishra, a government employee in Gursarai.
Mauranipur is the only seat in Jhansi where the BJP has replaced its sitting MLA – Bihari Lal Arya with Rashmi Arya, who was an SP candidate in 2017. With a sizeable number of Dalit voters, both SP and BSP have fielded a Dalit candidate. The main contest is between Arya and SP candidate Tilakchand Ahirwar.
