Candidates play development card to woo new urban voters
Political parties in Prayagraj are competing to win the support of voters from newly added villages in the city limits post delimitation, focusing on local development issues.
All political parties in Prayagraj are specially vying to get the backing of the voters of the erstwhile 207 villages that post delimitation have recently become part of Sangam city limits.
These villages are now part of 20 wards that have been added along with its population of around 4,28,206 to Prayagraj Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits.
While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is confident of getting the support of voters here for making them part of the city limits and initiating plans for the proper development of the areas, the opposition points out the delay in development as a reason for the residents and the voters to go against the Saffron party, and promising to bring in the desired result once they are elected.
After the new delimitation undertaken four years back, the number of wards in Prayagraj city have increased from 80 to 100 with the new 20 wards created in urban areas of Naini, Jhunsi, Phaphamau and Jhalwa etc. Nine are in Allahabad parliamentary constituency while 11 are in Phulpur parliamentary constituency.
After the new delimitation, eight old wards of the city have also ceased to exist. The localities of the wards that have ceased to exist have been merged with the adjoining wards.
In these new wards, Nishad community voters are expected to play an important role in trans-Yamuna areas. In Jhunsi area, Patel and Yadav voters are in dominant numbers. Among them, Patel voters can prove to be decisive. In the new wards of Phaphamau, Patel, Yadav and Maurya communities have significant number of voters who could prove to be a game changer there, shared Prof MP Dube, noted political analyst and former vice-chancellor of Uttar Pradesh Rajarshi Tandon Open University (UPRTOU).
However local development can prove to be an important issue in most of the new wards, he added.
Manoj Jaiswal, the BJP in-charge of Allahabad Lok Sabha of the district, says that after the delimitation, the new wards of Naini and Chaka falling within the Allahabad Lok Sabha seat have been included in the limits of the PMC.
“Work is being done at a rapid pace on the road map prepared by the state government to further improve the infrastructure of roads, electricity and water in these wards. The government is trying to ensure that after inclusion in the PMC limits, there should be development as per the Urban norms. Voters will give preference to local development and its impact will also be visible in our party’s performance in the Lok Sabha elections,” he said.
BJP’s Phulpur Lok Sabha in-charge Balendu Mani Tripathi says that the condition of roads and electricity is fine in most of the villages included in the extended areas of the PMC in Phulpur, but the people here want a permanent solution for drinking water supply problem. The state government has worked rapidly by preparing a road map for this, which has reduced the problems of the people.
The party got the support of the voters here in the municipal elections and we are confident that they will extend full support in the Lok Sabha elections also, he maintained.
However, INDIA bloc candidate from Allahabad Ujjwal Raman Singh points out that even after four years of the delimitation, the people of these areas are waiting for the promised development and facilities even as they are having to now pay taxes on par with the city residents. “All the so-called development plans are still limited to papers and the people here are yet to see any benefit of becoming part of the city limits. The people here would vote against BJP and in favour of leaders who genuinely would work for their betterment,” he added.