UP polls: 'Yahan ka beta' Akhilesh's 'return' electrifies Karhal contest

KARHAL (MAINPURI): On a bike with a BJP flag fluttering from the two-wheeler's handlebars, SK Yadav looked excited. Almost everyone in Karhal is- those on the "winning side" and those "who will taste defeat". It's like the small town in Mainpuri, nondescript in most ways but with shiny roads and clear signages that sets it apart from neighbouring areas, is suddenly electrified. People here have never basked in so much attention, not the kind that followed Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav's announcement that he would contest elections from patriarch Mulayam Singh's 'karam sthali', the place where he studied, taught, laboured and rose.

"What did the country's home minister say," asked Nitin Chaturvedi at Main Sadar Bazaar. He answered his own question: "Karhal is equal to 300 seats in UP. Waah." He smiled, pleased. Groups of boys and young men in open jeeps and motorcycles whizzed about, flashing the thumbs-up and victory sign.

While campaigning for BJP candidate and Union minister SP Singh Baghel in Karhal on Thursday, Amit Shah had said it was important for the party to defeat the Samajwadis in the Yadav stronghold. "Beat them here and they will be beaten in UP. A win in Karhal will be equivalent to a win in 300 seats," Shah had said.

Shah's statement has pleased many. "It's a big thing to say," Anshu Bali, 35, who runs a cycle repair shop in Gadhiya Chauraha, said. "Badi baat hai". The junction near Jain Inter College, where Mulayam was first a student and then a teacher, is full of Akhilesh followers. They fondly call him Tipu, a childhood name that has stuck. There are SP banners, buntings and posters everywhere -- atop houses, on walls, wrapped around electricity poles. “Smooth roads that you see here are because of Akhilesh bhaiya and his family. We have a personal connection with him,” Bali said.

Akhilesh had been dismissive some days ago when he was asked what he thought of his rival Baghel, a former Mulayam confidant and once MSY's security officer. “I don’t know who is fighting from the BJP, but I am sure about my victory,” Akhilesh had laughed off.

Baghel thinks otherwise. He told TOI on Friday: "Bringing Netaji (as MSY is fondly called) to Karhal to seek votes for himself shows that Akhilesh had accepted defeat. He initially said he would come here only on March 10 (the day of results) but he and his family are here everyday appealing for votes."

Stakes are high and Karhal has become a prestige battle between the BJP and SP. Satpal Yadav, a resident of Manikpur village, just 4 km from Mulayam's village Saifai, said, “The Yadav family knows how important the fight is. They brought Netaji out for campaigning despite his old age and visible health issues."

Retired head master Raghuvir Dayal, who said he was "sure" of Akhilesh’s victory, qualified his prediction. "But it won't be a cakewalk. It is evident as three generations of the Yadav family are campaigning. This also shows their nervousness."

At the Jain Inter College, security personnel brought in for the polls have taken over the campus premises and classes have been called off. But teenagers playing cricket nearby had no hesitation answering the capital question: "Kaun jitega"? Anshu Pal, 16, said, “Bhaiya (Akhilesh), aur kaun? His popularity is unmatched."

On the road leading to the Karhal bypass, Vijay Kumar, who owns one of the shops lining the street, explains it better. "Akhilesh has an inherent advantage over the BJP as he is considered 'one of our own' and not an outsider like Bhagel, who also has to fend off allegations of being a turncoat. He was with the SP earlier, wasn't he? Also, the Yadavs live here. They have family. Neither (UP CM) Yogi nor Baghel do."

From beneath her ghoonghat, Ajay Kumari said, "We don’t know politics but whenever my husband approaches the Yadav family for some work, they are accessible. Yehin ke hain (They are from here)."

Karhal has been an SP stronghold since 1993 with one exception — in 2002 the seat went to the BJP. This time, only three candidates are fighting elections from here after the Congress withdrew its candidate. It's Akhilesh versus Baghel versus BSP’s Kuldeep Narayan.

According to Samajwadi Party leaders, Yadavs comprise the biggest chunk in the Mainpuri belt, with about 3.5 lakh votes. Of the roughly 3.7 lakh voters in Karhal, the community accounts for 1.44 lakh, followed by Shakyas at 35,000, Jatavs 34,000, Kshatriya 25,000 and Muslims 14,000.

Asked which way the wind is blowing in Karhal, SK Yadav, the man on the bike with the BJP flag, said, "See, if Akhilesh bhaiya's winning margin is less than 50,000 votes, we can say he's lost."