The only poll promise which Fatima Nafees, mother of missing JNU student Najeeb Ahmad, is looking forward is the one which assures of bringing her son back.
Fatima , a resident of Badaun in Uttar Pradesh which goes to poll on April 23, says representatives of various parties visit her house but they only express "sympathy".
"I am not looking for those who sympathise with me. I am only looking for those who will assure me that they will bring my son back. That is what I tell representatives of various parties who visit our house. I will cast my vote only for the party which assures me that," she told PTI.
Najeeb Ahmed, a first-year MSc student of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) went went missing in 2016 after an altercation with students on campus and has not been traced till date.
"The Central Bureau of Investigation had last October closed the case after the agency failed to trace him after a long search.
"My son's disappearance has forced me to renegotiate life with Allah, what are political parties then. What is CBI, what are intelligence agencies for if they cannot trace an innocent child what will they do for country's security?
"People call me from Delhi saying Najeeb is hiding in Gurgaon, perhaps in Noida. There are others who express fear that he must have been killed and buried at an undisclosed location. With every call, I take the next bus and reach there only to be left disappointed," she said.
Nafees says her husband who is a carpenter and has been pinned to bed ever since Najeeb went missing, has similar hopes too.
"Water, electricity, other facilities, everything is secondary for us. We only want Najeeb," she said as she broke down.
Nafees had travelled to Bihar's Begusarai when former JNU Student Union President Kanhaiya Kumar, filed his nomination, a move which attracted criticism on social media.
"I am not on social media but my children told me about it. I did not go there to do any politics. I went there as a mother. Kanhaiya stood by me as a son when Najeeb went missing, its time I stand by him as a mother. But blessings is all I have to offer," she said.
Badaun is one of the 80 parliamentary constituencies of the state of Uttar Pradesh.
BJP has nominated Sangh Mitra Maurya from the constituency. The Congress has fielded Saleem Iqbal Shervani while the Samajwadi Party has reposed faith in its sitting MP Dharmendra Yadav.
