How Tejashwi’s pitch for change is getting drowned in flood fury, dissent in RJD citadel
Villagers battered by floods in Raghopur say MLA Tejashwi has done little to alleviate their condition, even though they live in poverty and their children struggle for basic education
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Mahagathbandhan’s chief ministerial candidate, Tejashwi Yadav, may be expecting huge Yadav consolidation from Raghopur, Tejashwi’s home constituency and a key citadel of the Lalu Prasad Yadav family, in the upcoming Bihar Assembly polls. However, despite sureshot chances of winning in Raghopur, Tejashwi faces huge public discontentment, especially for allegedly doing little to protect villages in the constituency from recurring floods and improving the condition of affected residents.
Aim for survival
Residents in many villages in the constituency, who live in abject penury and eke out a livelihood from agriculture and dairy farming, have realised that the topography of the region which makes it vulnerable to floods, will render their occupations useless after some time and that education is the only alternative. However, they rue that recurring floods and lack of infrastructure pull them back to the quagmire, preventing them from providing their children the education needed to survive.
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Take the case of Shivlal Bhagat, for instance. Every year, Bhagat, a resident of Karampur village, which comes under Raghopur, hopes the Ganges doesn’t swell and flood his village. It is the mighty river’s mood that has decided the fortunes of people like Bhagat, who live along its shores. With floods every year leaving property and crops in the village damaged, survival is the only thing people like Bhagat pray for.
Dangerous topography
“We live in Gangaji’s peet (the stomach of the Ganges),” say villagers, explaining the dangerous topography of the place they reside in.
Karampur is circled by the Ganges on one side and the Gandak River on the other, a topography that makes it vulnerable to floods. Several villages like Karampur face massive soil erosion after getting flooded every year. Several of its villages, like Karampur, have to face soil erosion after flooding each year.
Agricultural land in Raghopur constituency, which often gets inundated by floods.
Ahead of the Bihar elections, those like Bhagat rue that Tejashwi, despite his pitch for change, hasn’t done anything to improve their condition and didn’t even come to their rescue when their village stayed under floodwaters for nearly three months this year. They only hope for a leader who can end their miseries and build embankments to protect them from floods.
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Dissent against Tejashwi boon for BJP rival
For many years, Raghopur has been an RJD bastion: Tejashwi’s father, Lalu Prasad Yadav, has been an MLA from the constituency twice, while his mother, Rabri Devi, has won from the seat thrice. Tejashwi himself is the sitting MLA from the constituency. The seat has a sizable percentage of voters from the Yadav community, followed by Rajputs, EBCs (Extremely Backward Class), and Dalits, particularly Ravidas and Paswan.
Even though Tejashwi seems to have sway in the constituency with a population of over 3.5 lakh voters, in villages like Karampur, dissent is amplifying against him. This could favour Tejashwi’s rival Satish Yadav from the BJP.
No scope for mistakes
There have already been clear signs of discord among the population affected by the floods. On October 29 this year, when Rabri visited the house of RJD leader Raj Kumar Rai at Himmatpura, villagers stopped her cavalcade and complained to her how her son didn’t bother to visit them in the wake of the floods.
Both Tejashwi and Satish hail from the Yadav caste, a dominant community in Raghopur. And a small mistake in either camp can give an edge to the opponent.
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Satish used to be an RJD man and a trusted aide of Rabri. However, in 2010, he changed loyalties and emerged victorious on the JD(U) ticket. That was when he ended RJD’s nearly three-decade-old rule in the constituency, before Tejashwi wrested back the seat from him in 2015.
However, Satish’s switch to the BJP in 2015 is said to have disappointed people in the constituency. “He(Satish) failed us,” says Sambabu Rai, a former supporter from Himmatpura.
Development or caste allegiance?
We met a group of people discussing politics over cups of tea at a ramshackle tea shop in Himmatpur. Young contractor Jaikant believes it should be that development should determine the winner in the constituency. Ratan Kumar seconds him.
Ratan refers to the new 6-Lane New Ganga Bridge over the Ganges, which he said has made travel convenient for the people from Raghopur to Patna city.
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“We used to cross the river in boats to get to the other end. It used to become difficult during the night and in harsh weather. It was difficult for the ill to be taken to the hospital with no bridge over the river. Students also found it difficult. We always had to cross the river in a boat. Now it takes just 10 minutes to reach Patna. Otherwise, it was a two-hour arduous journey,” said Ratan.
Jaikant also downplays caste-based politics, slamming the inclination of people to vote for candidates from their caste. He said it is development and education that would ensure a bright future for the people living in the region.
‘Education only way to fight poverty’
Poverty is evident in the villages nestled on the banks of the Ganges in Raghopur, with people living in tattered hutments with their buffaloes and cows tied outside, amidst heaps of animal dung lying around. The unbearable stench of animal dung and urine makes it difficult to breathe.
Residents in villages like Karampur rear cattle and earn money by selling the milk to local traders. The profits these villagers make by selling milk are small compared to the traders they selling their product to. However, they are content since they are able to earn something, as the deluge damages their crops and makes their land barren every year.
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Bhagat realises that farming and cattle rearing, which have been the prime occupations of villagers in the region, are no longer feasible in the face of the floods and that education is the only alternative to change his village’s fortunes. He cites the example of Rampur, another village in the Raghopur constituency, which has seen a similar change.
Rampur a bright example
Rampur is among the very few prosperous villages in the entire constituency. The village has concrete houses with many built in a modern style. Many homes are even equipped with air conditioners. It is also the native village of Tejashwi’s opponent Satish.
Interestingly, despite being hurt by Tejashwi’s alleged ignorance towards their plight, people haven’t shifted their allegiance towards the “BJP man” and stay loyal to the RJD, expecting the party to do its bit for the constituency.
Those discussing Rampur’s transformation at the village square say its prosperity lies not in politics but in education.
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“It was soon after independence, in 1948, that Rampur got a high school. It was kind of Oxford for us in those times,” says Arvind Kumar Yadav, a retired engineer. The village of around 10,000 voters also has its men in the security forces and the police. It has produced five doctors, a woman IITian, and over a dozen advocates.
Arvind Kumar Yadav, a retired engineer from Rampur village
Bhagat awaits the day his village will be like Rampur. For that, children need to be in schools, which he says is possible once the problem of floods is resolved.
