Voters' Cold Wave

Heat wave, voter apathy and cyclic migration are blamed for the poor voter turnout in Bihar. Political parties are clueless about what impact will it have on election results

- Umesh Kumar Ray

AS one drives away from Patna towards Alawalpur village, about 20 kms from the state capital, dusty roads and the unbearable April heat sap your energy, but there is an election buzz. As you enter the village, you start noticing something—the divide between the upper caste Rajput localities and the Dalit bastis. The concrete road and solar lamps dotting the Rajput pockets disappear as one drives further down. And that’s when you realise why the locals are so vocal about the issues plaguing them and are looking forward to vote.

Alawalpur, that falls under the Patna Sahib constituency, made headlines in 2014 when Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Ravi Shankar Prasad adopted the village under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana. In 2019, he defeated Shatrughan Sinha, who was fighting for the Congress, and became the MP from Patna Sahib.

A quick chat with the locals reveals that they are not happy with the way development has shaped up in this ‘Adarsh’ village. “From 2014 until now, only a few street lights have been put up and an Anganwadi centre has opened,” informs ward member Dilip Chaudhary. The overall consensus among locals is that not much progress has happened in the last 10 years. In such a situation, they say, they are forced to lean towards other parties. “Recently, about 100 bighas of wheat crops were damaged in a fire. Twenty-three farmers lost everything. No one visited us. Only the Congress candidate offered to help,” says another local.

Patna Sahib goes to vote in the last phase—on June 1—but the voters seem to have made up their minds. The Rajputs, who have traditionally supported the BJP, say they may not vote for the party. “This time, the BJP will not get