Trouble in paradise Azamgarh, Amethi in despair

There is trouble in paradise. Two premier Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh that have the potential of casting a shadow on the upcoming Assembly elections are in despair.

The constituencies are Azamgarh that is held by Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amethi, held by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.

In Azamgarh, the Samajwadi Party presently holds nine out of the 10 Assembly seats, but with resentment growing among the local people, chances of the SP repeating its performance are slim.

“The biggest problem here is that all SP leaders — from the MP to the MLAs — take the constituency for granted. The local MP Mulayam Singh Yadav has visited the constituency only once after being elected and people from the constituency cannot meet him unless he wants to do so. Because of his prolonged absence, the local legislators also display their disinterest towards the people and this is causing resentment,” said Shakeel Ahmad, a law student in the famous Shibli College in Azamgarh.

Azamgarh is normally considered a safe seat for the Samajwadi Party since it has 22 per cent Yadav and 14 per cent Muslim population.

“This time, it is going to be tough for our legislators to retain their seats because they have remained inaccessible to their voters. Development in the constituency remains on paper and the MLAs make no effort to get things moving,” said a district level SP leader.

A more or less similar situation prevails in Amethi, the bastion of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.

Amethi has three Assembly seats of which two, Gauriganj and Amethi, are held by Samajwadi Party, while the Congress has only Jagdishpur.

The local Congress leaders are completely dependent on Mr Gandhi to see them through the elections. The Jagdishpur MLA, Radhey Shyam, is said to be one of the most diligent legislators, but he remains restricted to his own constituency.

Mr Gandhi is also facing trouble in his constituency ever since Union minister Smriti Irani increased her visits to Amethi and started responding to people’s problems. Mr Gandhi’s victory margin had crashed to 1.07 lakh votes in the 2014 which was a warning signal for him.

He has faced protests during his visits to his constituency.

Though Mr Gandhi visits Amethi at regular intervals and responds to the people’s problems, the local Congress leaders refuse to back up his efforts.

Congress leaders in Lucknow admit that though Mr Gandhi faces no immediate threat to his seat, the party is unlikely to increase its tally in Amethi because of the laid-back attitude of the party leaders.