The Haryana village that politicians forgot to seek votes from

Geetanjali Gayatri
Tribune News Service
Nuh, May 10

No last-day rush to woo voters, no election din and no politicians or their workers anywhere to be found. The curtains came down on campaigning silently today in the minority-dominated district of Nuh that falls under the Gurgaon Lok Sabha seat.

In Gandhigram village, earlier called Ghasera, where Mahatma Gandhi came after Partition and appealed to the Meos against mass exodus to Pakistan, the mood is one of indifference. With most residents fasting in the holy month of Ramadan, voting holds little charm.

Says 66-year-old Mobin, “No politician has stopped by and appealed for votes. This means we don’t matter. Then, most of us are fasting this month. If on the day of voting, we have the energy, we will vote. Otherwise, we will just skip it because nobody has approached us. If we cast our ballot, the common sentiment is essentially against the saffron party.”

 A fellow villager, Mohd Ilyas, chips in, “We are not against this one particular party without reason. Most of our people are drivers and have been forced to sit at home because the BJP government is not renewing our driver’s licence. Without employment, without income, why will we vote for them?”

This sentiment finds an echo across villages and the discussion hardly revolves around politics despite this being the peak season. 

“Our greatest pain is that our jobs have been taken away from us. Who has the time for politics? A few vehicles zip up and down on the Nuh-Alwar highway but nobody stops to hear us out or urge us to vote for a particular party. We will certainly go to vote on May 12 and bring this present government down,” says Azaruddin of Malab village.

 A solitary flag waving atop a half-finished brick house is perhaps the only visible sign of the presence of political parties in the village on a sleepy afternoon. In the adjoining village, the usual colour and noise around election and campaigning is conspicuous by its absence. It almost reflects the disinterest of the voters who believe their fate will remain unchanged.

“We have Hindu families in the village, but there is distrust between the two communities under this present government. Both the BJP and Congress have fielded Ahir candidates. Neither of them is Muslim. But we still prefer one party over the other because we feel safe. Nobody has forgotten the lynching of Rakbar Khan and Pehlu Khan. It will adversely affect the fortunes of the party responsible for it,” emphasises Abdul Kareem of Bai village.

 They admit that electioneering has been low-key. So, they are considering the candidates of all parties in absentia and will vote based on their understanding with no weight on their conscience as nobody has approached them.

 “In any case, today is the fourth ‘roza’ and the villagers, too, use these days to rest and conserve energy. We have been left to take our call on the votes and we will exercise it. Elections in this holy month will bring good results. We will stay hopeful and go to vote,” Tahir Hussain, the most vocal of the villagers in Gandhigram, says.

The others agree while adding that Gandhiji from Gujarat came to their village to keep them from moving out at the time of Partition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also from Gujarat, has chosen to completely overlook their existence.