The government at center and state have fought several elections, promising the construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya. The magnitude of concern showed for the birth-place of Lord Rama is inversely proportional to that of the birth-place of Lord Buddha. Sidharth Nagar is the birth-place of Lord Buddha and it is struggling for attention from the government.

About Sidharth Nagar

Sidharth Nagar is a district in Uttar Pradesh. It is near the India-Nepal border. It is known for the ruins of Shakya Janapada is one of the most backward districts in India. This is the center of trafficking scams as the district shares its border with Nepal. Siddharth Nagar is also near to the city of “The CM” – Gorakhpur. It has a high rural population with agriculture being the source of bread for the families.

Siddharth Nagar is completely opposite to what the Siddhartha or Lord Buddha desired. Its citizens are living in trenches of poverty. The civic amenities are almost dysfunctional in the city. Black-outs are quite frequent in the city despite claims of electrification by our Prime Minister. Recently, two AK-47 rifles went missing from near the India-Nepal border. Siddharth Nagar is always in the headlines due to wrong reasons only.

Siddharth Nagar – Deflating Government’s claims

Despite the presence of BJP governments in the center and state, the development didn’t reach Siddharth Nagar. It deflates all the claims of Modi and Yogi governments. The frequent blackouts deflate the scheme of 100% electrification claim of the government. The uncontrolled trafficking of weapons and people gives a glimpse of law and order in the district. Siddharth Nagar also failed miserably in civic amenities. According to a story done by Amar Ujala, there are streets which sink in darkness post dust due to unavailability of street lights. Public toilets are only on paper with open defecation a dark reality. Swatchh Bharat Abhiyan hasn’t reached Siddharth Nagar yet. In spite of these flaws, the government is focussing on cattle safety as it is evident in the instructions given by the Deputy of District Magistrate.

Buddhists are not in high numbers and cannot be categorized as a vote-bank. Due to this, the government is treating the birth-place of their Lord Buddha in such a way. No promise ever made for the development of Siddharth Nagar. It could become one of the major tourist attraction due to its historical significance. Due to negligence that potential seems a lost cause.  The citizens of Siddharth Nagar have lost all hopes with the government and now they just want them to provide basic amenities. Even for that too, cows have become the priority.

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A little spice of caste-based politics by SP-BSP changed the flavor of the ‘Fascist’ politics by BJP. SP’s victory in the UP bypolls was not just about the support from BSP alone. Tactical moves made by Akhilesh in the past fortnight made the difference.

Ignore Congress and Form new Alliances

Akhilesh decided to maintain a safe distance from Congress to keep those party workers in good humor. The workers were unhappy over their alliance for the 2017 assembly polls. Since Congress showed no interest in renewing the pact, SP decided to go solo.

Small parties with hardly any presence throughout the state gave active support to SP. The only uniting motive was to defeat BJP. Then Akhilesh turned to those small parties which had strong hold on castes in the region of Gorakhpur and Phulpur.

Akhilesh teamed up with the Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD) Party and Peace Party. He then fielded Pravin Nishad from Gorakhpur. Pravin is the son of NISHAD chief Sanjay Nishad. The move proved a masterstroke as the Nishad community is the largest sub-caste of OBC in the constituency, comprising 3.5 lakh or roughly 17% of the total electorate.

In Phulpur, the party fielded Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel to focus on the sizeable chunk of Patels in the region.

Support from BSP

It was not for the nothing that Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav went personally to pay his respects to ‘buaji’ for her support to Samajwadi candidates in Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha bypolls.

Due to the choice of candidates and being burned by the same ambition, BSP actively supported SP quite easily. This served two purposes for BSP. First, making its presence felt and second, not relinquishing its strong-hold on lower castes.

Dalits in Uttar Pradesh, who traditionally supported Mayawati, voted in big numbers for Modi in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, only to find his Hindutva brigade going berserk against them. Dozens of cases of violence against Dalits at the hands of upper castes continue to be reported. Thus, Dalits turned against the BJP.

Is this the arrival of wind of change in India?

It is quite a tradition that the party with the most seats in UP serves as the ‘Kingmaker’ in Indian politics. Though its too early to say but still it is clear that now Fascist politics by BJP is not enough. The defeat might end the euphoria which surrounded BJP’s office after winning in North-East. (Read more: Saffronisation Of North East:) This might be the beginning of the end of Modi-Yogi politics. With just 273 seats in the Lok Sabha,1 clear of the majority, there are chances of this end to come sooner.

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