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Voters indifferent in Panna

By Vinay Kumar

PANNA, (MADHYA PRADESH), NOV. 24. Contrary to its name, which means a place where precious gems are found, Panna happens to be the most backward district in Bundelkhand region. The town did not display any poll fever, though Assembly polls are just a week away. Banners, posters and flags of the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party were found only on a couple of busy crossings. Disenchantment of the people with the political parties seems to be palpable.

"Nobody is bothered about us, so why should we care about them? Even if I go to participate in an election rally, no party would even ask me for a cup of tea. So why should I leave my shop and enlist support for any of the candidates. For me all are the same,'' says Jagannath, an elderly shopkeeper who has jewellery business in the Bara Bazar area of this town, which has a population of less than a lakh. His sentiments are echoed by Neeraj Srivastav, a young businessman.

The reasons for voter apathy are obvious — glaring backwardness of the area, total neglect towards developing infrastructural facilities, erratic power supply, lack of industries as well as lack of job opportunities and this would be true of the entire Bundelkhand region, which sends 24 MLAs to the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly.

So far as precious gems and stones are concerned, Panna has diamond mines, the only one in Asia. From here the National Mineral Development Corporation notches up an annual turnover of nearly Rs. 50 crores. It is also known for its Tiger Reserve and teak jungles but the State Government appears to have shown little interest in promoting these tourist attractions.

Predominantly rural, the district has about 900 villages, some of them tucked away in deep interiors and has about 1.81 lakh voters on its rolls.

Out in the electoral arena are the Congress candidate, Jai Prakash Patel, Kusum Singh Mahdele, sitting MLA of BJP and Naseem Akhtar Khan of the Bahujan Samaj Party.

Political observers say that the BJP would not have a cakewalk here though its candidate has won twice before. Threatening to spoil the party is the BSP candidate, Naseem Khan, an advocate and a first timer.

"Neither the Congress nor the BJP have done anything for the labour class and agricultural workers. People seem fed up with both of them. The BSP was on the third spot from here in the 1998 elections, we will definitely improve our position,'' Mr. Khan says.

Considering the proximity of Panna to the Uttar Pradesh border, the BSP factor may come into play here.

So far there has not been any major election meeting in this district but party workers said some of the BJP leaders as well as the BSP chief, Mayawati, could undertake a tour.

At a couple of places, posters of the BJP's star campaigner, Uma Bharti, and cut-outs of the Chief Minister, Digvijay Singh, stare at us from walls and rooftops. People say that electioneering would hot up only in the last stages.

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• The battle for power over power
• Some dissenting voices on Digvijay's turf
• Maha Kaushal no longer safe for Cong.
• Voters indifferent in Panna

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