Rae Bareli: Crossing the roads, travelling through the hinterlands of Rae Bareli, several eyes gaze the cameras as they wait for the Gandhi family star campaigner Priyanka to visit her mother Sonia's constituency. The one feeling that some said and some unsaid words carried was that all this is just for the elections. As and when the elections pass, the villages in this VVIP constituency will be left with one to care for them.
"Sonia has done a lot for the Rae Bareli. We asked for a flyover to be made and it was ordered on the next day itself," a villager said. Pointing to a historic temple in Raja Mau where Priyanka held her rally, he said, "This temple is the pride of Raja Mau. It was in ruins. We complained about it to Soniaji and soon after it was handed over to the ASI and is now being managed well."
With exuberance and confidence, an old man in the area said, "This place is a Gandhi bastion and will only elect a Gandhi." But at the same time, he did not shy away from accepting that BJP's Narendra Modi does certainly have a strong effect on people, though not in this VVIP constituency but definitely in other parts of the country.
With Priyanka and her fleet were several other media persons tracking every move that she took and capturing every word that she said. Rae Bareli loved the attention with people readily posing for pictures and giving their views on the elections.
Unfortunately, being a VVIP constituency, the one sentiment that could not be subdued in the area was the feeling of insecurity and unease. "No one does anything, which ever government comes, it will be the same for all of us," an agitated villager in Rae Bareli said.
"I am a widow, there are no schemes launched for people like us. At such an old age, we have to fend for ourselves. I tried getting the pension of my husband but even that basic right has been denied to me," said a lady whose anger was reflected in her tear-filled eyes.
The old not getting pensions seemed not a one off problem. Others too kept approaching the camera crews in the village appealing for their stories to be put on air so that they can get their pensions that have been stuck over the years.
"I met Soniaji thrice. I gave her my application when she came here and she called me to Delhi after that. She even gave orders to the officers but no action has been taken even two years down the line," a seemingly helpless person said.
From early morning to late in the night, from rallies to roadshows, we crossed several narrow potholed roads, on which even one car could hardly move. Police officials barricaded roads, held people by the rope as Priyanka's fleet moved by.
Working under the hot sun and blistering heat, police officials desperately await April 30, when the constituency goes to vote. "I am waiting for the elections to get over soon. We are all so tired. Every day some or the other leader comes and holds at least 4-5 rallies and we have to make preparations for the security," a police constable said on a day on which Priyanka held 13 rallies or 'nukkad sabhas'in Rae Bareli.
"These roadshows happen for just 10-15 minutes, but a humongous amount of effort goes into the preparation," the police constable said.
"Indiraji used to visit us. She used to come to our homes and talk to us, no one be it Sonia, Priyanka, Rahul or anyone else, does that now," was the strongest sentiment that mostly the old felt.
In a move to connect to the masses, she reached out to the people and shook hands with them instead of climbing up the dais and giving her speech from there. All this, amidst cheers of "Priyanka Gandhi aage badho, hum tumhare saath hai" by Youth Congress leaders.
While Priyanka in her rallies said that a lot of employment has been generated in Rae Bareli through the rail coach factory or the steel factories, the residents hardly echoed the word. But most certainly despite all the odds, the people in the area seem highly willing to repose their faith in the Congress President, the 'Gandhi bahu', yet again.
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