UP Election 2022: ‘Vikas’, not Vikas Dubey factor, to influence 3rd-phase voting in Bikru, nearby villages

3rd-phase polling in UP: For close to 40,000 voters living in Bikru and a dozen other surrounding villages in the Bilhaur assembly constituency of Kanpur district, the 'Vikas Dubey' factor will not be in play when they go to cast their votes this Sunday. According to local residents, issues of development, law and order, jobs and excess of stray cattle will be prominent factors on which voting will be done in the Bilhaur constituency.

Vikas Dubey, a mafia held the reins of political power in the area using brute force and intimidation with the administration looking the other way in most cases. Residents say people were forced to vote for the candidates supported by Dubey in previous elections.

"We only pressed the button but the vote used to be of Vikas Dubey. People used to vote in favour of a candidate at Dubey's directive," said 57-year-old Vishambhar Shukla of Bikru village who used to do odd jobs for Dubey. On July 10, gangster Vikas Dubey was killed in an encounter after a police vehicle carrying him from Ujjain to Kanpur met with an accident and he tried to escape from the spot in the Bhauti area, police said earlier. Four policemen, including an inspector posted in Nawabganj, too were injured in the accident.

Eight policemen, including DSP Devendra Mishra, were ambushed in Bikru village in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur when they were going to arrest Dubey and fell to bullets fired by Dubey’s henchmen from rooftops of village homes shortly after midnight on July 3. Sangram Singh Verma, a teacher at a government inter college told PTI that the death of Vikas Dubey has totally changed the politics of the Bilhaur constituency.

"He (Dubey) was a big power centre in the area and in his absence people are completely free to vote for the candidate of their choice," he said. Bikru village head Sanjay Kamal said earlier during polls, the candidates of all parties used to visit Vikas Dubey at his house in the village. The candidate who was given assurance of support from Dubey used to get all the votes from the area without even campaigning.

"This time around candidates of all political parties are campaigning in the area requesting locals to vote for them," Kamal said. Bilhaur is a reserved constituency for scheduled caste candidates. There are close to four lakh registered voters in the Bilhaur constituency. Of them, around 1.5 lakh are SC voters, including those belonging to Kori, Gautam, Sonkar and other SC communities. The constituency also has around 30,000 Kshatriya voters, 50,000 Muslim voters and 60,000 Brahmin and Yadav voters each.

Dubey used to have a strong influence on over 40,000 voters living in Bikru, Dibba Nivada, Bhiti, Sujja Nivada, Jadepur, Takipur and nearby villages. In 2017, Bhagwati Prasad Sagar won on a BJP ticket. Sagar defected to the Samajwadi Party recently and is contesting from the Ghatampur constituency. The BJP has fielded Rahul Baccha alias Rahul Sonkar from the seat. Rahul is pitted against Rachna Singh Gautam of Samajwadi Party and Usha Rani Kori of Congress in the current election.

Though Vikas Dubey and his close associates were gunned down by police in an encounter, families of people who were arrested by the police in the aftermath continue to suffer. Blinded by cataract Rani Saini, mother of Gopal and Govind Saini who are currently in jail for their alleged association with Dubey and involvement in the incident sits outside her house facing debris of Vikas Dubey's house. She wants her sons to be released.

"It has been over a year since my sons were arrested by the police. My sons were not involved in the incident. They only worked for Dubey. The court must listen to their case and release them showing some sympathy for their blind mother," said 58-year-old Rani.

In the house across the road was 23-year-old Himanshi Mishra, whose brother was gunned down by police and her father, the sole earning member of the family, has been in jail for more than a year. Himanshi's brother Prabhat Kumar was an alleged aide of Vikas Dubey but the family claims he was a minor.

Prabhat died in circumstances similar to Dubey's death, police say. He was being brought to Kanpur on transit remand after his arrest in Faridabad when he snatched the pistol of a policeman and tried to flee, police had said earlier. This tough stance against Dubey and his aides, most of whom belonged to the Brahmin community, caused anger among the community.

"Brahmins were slaughtered by the Yogi Adityanath government in the name of law and order. We are not supporting what Vikas Dubey or his aides did. But, we are against the blatant encounters done by the police," said Prabhashankar Mishra, another resident of Bikru village who added that Brahmins who are considered to support BJP may vote against the party in Bilhaur constituency.

However, not all Brahmin voters agree with this notion. Shankar Dubey, 48, of Dibba Niwada said, "The government acted against the criminal without considering his caste. In Lakhimpur Kheri too, the son of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni was arrested for the killings of farmers but Teni was not disturbed because he had nothing to do with it. People will keep this in mind when they vote.”

Located around 40 kilometres from the district headquarters, the region is a predominant potato farming belt with the presence of a few industries. The region is plagued with an excess of stray cattle roaming around in the area damaging farmers' crops and rampant unemployment.

Basant Kumar, 28, a graduate in Dibba Niwada village said, "There are a few factories in the area but they pay very meagre salaries. I have been trying to get a government job for the last five years but in vain. In absence of government jobs, we are forced to work in fields or private factories on meagre salaries. I will vote for the party promising me a government job." 

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