Tall tales about big leader, but little on the ground

AURA AND THE MAN

Subhro Maitra TNN
Few in Jangipur have seen the dhoti-kurta clad leader who dares to “take on Pakistan and fight terrorism”. Some have attended his rallies, but most have only caught fleeting images of him on TV as he holds forth on a range of issues in Delhi. Nonetheless, everyone in Jangipur — the politically indifferent housewife, the committed party worker, the underpaid bidi labourer — is taken in by Pranab Mukherjee, their ‘VIP candidate’, who is seen as an agent of change and the mediator of all good things that might happen here. None on either side of the political divide is quite sure how these myths emerged. But it was never more apparent on polling day. Thirty-year-old Hiru Das has been cycling around the constituency since 5 am, a Congress flag fluttering from the handlebar. Pointing proudly at the Tricolour, Das smiles when asked about the elections. “There is only one candidate here, Pranab Mukherjee. He is a very important person and has done a lot for the area. He has built colleges and universities for us and also built roads... and a lot of other things,” Das trails off. Mukherjee, however, has so far only been a party to the announcement that a branch of the Aligarh Muslim University will come up at Jangipur. As for “colleges and universities”, none is quite sure what Das is talking about. But the “big man” has a larger than life image. He is even credited for building embankments that will eradicate floods from the district. “He has built embankments and from this year there will be no floods or erosion. Why shouldn’t we vote for him?” asks Alema Bibi of Khargram. Alema, like her neighbour Shibu Haldar, has not seen the leader on his campaign trail. Nor heard his speeches or poll promises. She is probably not aware that no embankments have been built either, by Mukherjee or anybody else. But the aura around the leader has left her too dazed to verify facts. “He has the guts to take on terrorists. Uni khub boro manush, uni amader bhalo korben (He is a big man and will do us a lot of good),” she said. Even bidi workers, who form a sizeable section of voters, believe Mukherjee will improve their lot. With a daily earning of Rs 40 or even less, they barely manage to make ends meet. “Has Pranab babu promised you a higher wage?” The question is greeted with a look of indifference. “It’s too small a matter for him to even talk about. Let him win the seat, he will take good care of us,” said Samad of Amarpur village, who has been fortunate to see the leader in person while Mukherjee was campaigning. Golenur Bewa of Boroj village agrees. “He is the one who got the skull and bones sign removed from bidi packets and saved us from unemployment,” she says. Even the local CPM has been left searching for answers. They admit they are having to fight Mukherjee’s aura — a task for which they were not prepared. The man himself stayed away from the election hullabaloo on Thursday. He neither made a public appearance, nor a round of the booths. As the media waited at his local residence, Mukherjee refused to show up, burying himself in a book of poems. “I am a great admirer of Sudhin Datta’s poems and was reading them today,” he said.