Hamirpur voters say sitting BJP MP barely visited constituency but 'Modi ji ke representative hai toh jitana padega'

Hamirpur: Many locals here complain their MP Kunwar Pushpendra Singh Chandel of the BJP barely visited the constituency and was often unavailable on phone but they still say "Modi ji aur Yogi ji ke representative hai toh jitana padega".

Chandel is aiming a hat-trick of wins from the Hamirpur-Mahoba Lok Sabha seat, where voting will be held on May 20.

The Samajwadi Party has fielded Ajendra Lodhi while the BSP has given ticket to Nirdosh Dixit.

Devendra Mohan Choubey, a Hamirpur resident, said the MP "seldom visited the constituency to interact with the people".

According to Pushpendra Ram of Mawai village, their representative "barely came to listen to their problems and solve them".

Another villager of Mawai, Babu Ram Kushwaha, said, "Neither the MP nor his staff was available to take our calls and hear about our problems." However, the trio say they will still vote for Chandel.

"Modi ji aur Yogi ji ke representative hai toh jitana padega (he is Modi and Yogi's representative, so we should vote for him)," is their refrain.

The constituency is spread across three districts of Hamirpur, Mahoba and Tindwari assembly constituency of neighbouring Banda district.

It has a Scheduled Caste population of over 22 per cent and a sizeable number of Rajput, Lodhi, Dalit, Brahmin and Muslim voters.

Hamirpur resident Mahendra Mohan Choubey claimed voters will go with candidates of their caste.

Many say things have changed for the better from the time of the Samajwadi Party rule in the state (2012-17).

"During the earlier SP rule, goons and mafia had made life insecure. But now, there is no such fear," said Rajendra Sharma.

SP candidate Lodhi claimed Narendra Modi has lost his charm and the people here want a man who will always be available to them to solve their problems.

Mayawati's nominee Dixit, a Brahmin, asserted it's wrong to see him as "vote katwa" (vote splitter) and exuded confidence that people are well aware of "Behen ji's track record and will go with her".

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and SP president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday addressed a joint rally in neighbouring Jhansi and sought votes for Lodhi and also the local Congress candidate Pradeep Jain.

The two leaders hit out at Modi for ignoring the interests of farmers and youths and assured that loans of farmers would be waived as it was done during the UPA rule.

Manoj Tiwari, who unsuccessfully contested the last assembly polls from Mahoba, said, "People have seen the poor track record of the BJP government, both at the Centre and the state, and want a government which will hear their problems." In 2014, Chandel had defeated SP's Bishambhar Prasad Nishad and in 2019, BSP's Dilip Kumar Singh.