Nana Sahib’s encroached legacy not on agenda of any poll candidate

BITHOOR: Election makes voters supreme, yet Bithoor and its rich legacy have failed to catch the candidates’ attention. None of the candidates’ poll agenda includes the cause of Nana Sahib’s encroached house in Bithoor. Candidates who do not belong to the place are not even aware of the fate of the locked palace.
“That’s where Rani Laxmibai played in her childhood as Bithoor was her ‘nanihal’ (maternal grandparents’ home) but no one can enter the palace now as it is in ruins, in spite of being steeped in history,” said Sunny Rao Moghe, a descendant of one of the commanders of Bajirao Peshwa (I).State government is fighting a legal battle with those who have encroached the palace. “Government cannot do anything as court has put a stay on the matter,” said sitting MLA of Bithoor, Munindra Shukla of Samajwadi Party.
For the ‘bastis’ (unplanned colonies) that have come up on the palace land, he blamed the chairman of Bithoor nagar panchayat, who is also the mother of BJP candidate Abhijit Singh Sanga. “She has been chairman thrice and could have saved the government property,” said Shukla.
Sanga’s elder brother and election campaign manager, Rana Samarendra Singh said, “Encroachers get powerful with the support of politicians and if it comes from the ruling party, what could be better.” Though Sanga could not be contacted, his brother said, “Encroachment on government land will be tackled with an iron hand.”
Nana Sahib was the adopted son of Bajirao Peshwa (II). He led the first war of independence against British in 1857 along with Tantya Tope and Rani Laxmibai. His palace was burnt by British. State tourism department has built a Nana Sahib memorial park on 12 acre land. But the palace sprawls over 52 acres or 25 beegha. “The memorial also has a museum,” said assistant manager at the memorial, UP tourism official, Umendra Yadav.
The memorial also has a well in which women and children who lived in the palace jumped to escape humiliation at the hands of British but it is out of public reach though it has still not run dry. “If a local wins the election and becomes MLA he can change state of affairs,” said Puneet Kumar, candidate of Bhartiya Shakti Chetna Party. Though liquor bans tops his poll agenda, he said, “I have the cause of Bithoor’s historical buildings on my mind.”
Bithoor is a mix of rural and urban voters. At least 128km long, it is the biggest Vidhan Sabha constituency. More than 80% of Bithoor is rural while 10% is town area. Total number of voters is about 3.38 lakh out of which SC/ST comprise about 1 lakh, general category including Brahmin, Thakurs and Vaishya comprise slightly more than 1 lakh and OBC, including Yadavs comprise about 90,000 voters. Bithoor’s literacy rate is 80.6% as per Census 2011 which is more than the state’s average of 67.6%. Male literacy rate is about 86% and that of females is 74%.
But that has not made voters fearless in Bithoor. Most of them are guarded to reveal who they would support and almost all of them agree that deteriorating law and order is worrisome. “It’s not only Nana Sahib’s palace that is encroached, other historical places like area around Valmiki ashram also has squatters,” said one of the voters in Luv Kushnagar in Bithoor.
“I am not aware that Nana Sahib's palace is encroached,” said state secretary of Voters Party International, Pramod Yadav who has given ticket to his daughter Shashi Devi. The family hails from Rasoolabad but ironically, decided to contest from Bithoor for its rich legacy. The 62-year old Karan Singh Yadav alias Etawah Naresh, RLD candidate, said, “I am fighting for the cause of farmers. If chips factories are opened here, potata growers would benefit.” Yadav is an outsider as he contested election from Bhartana earlier and is contesting from Bithoor for the first time.