Sudden prominence for Hydergarh

HYDERGARH, MARCH 26. Development has emerged as a key issue for the people of the Hydergarh Assembly constituency in Uttar Pradesh from where the Chief Minister, Mr. Rajnath Singh, is contesting the forthcoming by-election as the BJP nominee.

From an obscure corner of Barabanki district Hydergarh has suddenly become a VIP constituency like Rae Bareli or Amethi. So far it had been a neglected area, despite remaining in the close neighbourhood of the political working fields of the Nehru-Gandhi family. The psychological impact of the argument that the constituency represented by the Chief Minister would no longer remain neglected is quite visible and the BJP leaders have gone the whole log to sell the point.

The Chief Minister himself has been making all possible promises to his electorate. ``I am the Chief Minister of a State which, because of its size, could be the seventh largest country of the world. I, therefore, cannot give a lot of time to my constituency. But I would see that one or two hours are reserved for the people of Hydergarh daily when some big officer will listen to their problems and would take action to solve them. I shall myself supervise the action being taken. I also promise that I shall myself spare two or three hours in a week to talk to the people from Hydergarh and listen to their problems,'' Mr. Singh said at a series of election meetings at Shivnam, Lahi and Kileshwar Mahadev today.

Mr. Singh also promised that there would be no widow or elderly person in Hydergarh who did not get the Government pension she or he was entitled to.

Party campaigners have been telling the voters that Samajwdi Party or the Bahujan Samaj Party candidates would simply be MLAs, even if elected. Mr. Rajnath Singh is the Chief Minister and with his victory Hydergarh would acquire an immediate VIP status, says the former BJP MLA, Mr. Sunderlal Dixit and the former Congress(I) MLA, Mr. Surendranath Awasthi, who resigned to vacate the seat to enable Mr. Singh to enter the State legislature.

However, supporters of the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress(I) do not feel that development is the only issue. Caste and community too would play their role as usual but the election of the Chief Minister would certainly become different from that of an ordinary BJP candidate.

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