Dacoits gone, but muscle still rules polls in Chambal

BHIND/MORENA: Once notorious for “baaghis” (infamous term for bandits) and their “pakad” (captives for ransom), the twin districts of

Chambal

region, Bhind and Morena, have no respite from crime even as bandits have vanished from the ravines.


The two districts have the maximum number of critical polling booths thanks to the presence of several “bahubali” and “dabang” candidates in the fray for the November 28 assembly polls and a history of poll violence witnessed in the recent past. Not surprisingly, the two districts have the highest number of deployment of central paramilitary forces (CPMF) in

Madhya Pradesh

only next to Naxal-infested Balaghat.

According to the local residents caste, free liquor, cash and ‘bahubal (muscle power)’ will play a key part in determining the outcome despite EC’s rigorous awareness campaigns asking voters to cast their mandate on merit.

Of 1,702 polling booths in six assembly constituencies of Morena district, over 1,500 are marked as critical. More than 29,000 armed weapons have been surrendered with the Morena district administration as required by poll norms.

Neighbouring

Bhind district

with five assembly constituencies has 556 critical booths of the total 1,480 and over 22,000 weapons have been surrendered so far. Twenty seven companies of central forces have been deployed in Bhind.

“Yeh area bahut kadak hai (This is a tough area)”, says Norbhay Gujjar, a vendor at Mehgaon, one of the most sensitive constituencies in the area. A video purportedly showing Congress candidate from Mehgaon exhorting his supporters to cast votes of absentees went viral recently prompting his opponents to seek poll officials’ intervention. Bhind SP Rudolf Alvanes says over 1,800 preventive actions have been taken so far and around 1,500 people have been rounded up to ensure free and fair polls.

Historically, Lahar and Gohad assembly constituencies are the most sensitive in the two districts. Congress MLA from Gohad Makhan Singh Jatav was killed in 2009 after which his son Ranvir Jatav won the by-poll and is in the fray again. In Lahar, BJP’s Rasal Singh and Congress’s Govind Singh are known as bahubali leaving the administration with no option but to take extra precautionary measures.

General secretary of Morena Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ravi Kant Goyal says life for normal citizens is peaceful. “Political atmosphere is tense. But there is no threat to common man,” said Goyal.