Gun culture missing in B’khand this election

KANPUR: The parched land of Bundelkhand, struggling with backwardness and poverty, is as well known for its deep rooted gun culture as for its history and heritage. In the four Lok Sabha constituencies going to the polls in phase 5, there are one lakh licensed weapons, making the entire region with seven districts with the highest population of guns.

Here, guns are deeply integrated into local customs and the feudal society, with people often seen carrying them as a symbol of power machismo.

But this election is different: the guns or the big moustachioed men carrying them are missing from poll campaigns altogether. The shift is significant because till last elections the guns added an undeniable ‘oomph factor’ to the engineering of candidates’ campaigns.

In Hamirpur, BJP’s sitting MP Pushpendra Singh Chandel and Ajendra Singh of the INDI Alliance are employing unconventional methods to connect with voters.

They are eschewing the typical displays of strength through weaponry and ifocusing more on subdued and personable campaign strategies to win over the electorate in a region where loud display of power has traditionally ben dominant .

Pushpendra Singh, the sitting MP is moving with just his security officer going door to door-- another first in Hamirpur, which has been used to motorcades. Ajendra Singh who comes from Mahoba is a Lodhi Rajput, has taken a unique approach while seated on his knees in village meets to connect at more intimate level.

In Banda-Chitrakoot, RK Singh Patel (whose name has been associated with slain dacoit Shiv Kumar Dadua in the past) has been on apologising mode in his constituency. Till last election his campaign used to be high voltage and this time he has mellowed.

In his meetings or reaching out to the voters he merely apologises for his follies during the last term and doesn’t say much. His competitor Shiv Shankar Patel is keeping his campaign limited to one vehicle and seven persons helping him.

“These people were well known figures of the power circuit; the social media apparently has brought the change,” said political observer Ram Lal Jayan in Banda. Either they fear the negative publiclity or may genuinely have thought to bring out the glamour the guns added to the political campaigns.

In this region, during the elections it was a fashion statement to have gun in hand riding the pillion of a motorcycle, particularly the Bullet. The other important aspect was the person needed to have moustaches, the bigger the better, said Aman Gupta, a journalist.

“Better education, increased level of awareness and the world view of Gen Z has played an important role in alleviation of fancy for the guns. The youngster do not have a liking for guns and they do not want to be brazen with the family weapons,” he said.

Bhanu Sahay who had been fighting for statehood to Bundelkhand said the gun culture had engulfed the whole region to the extent that people in this region used to sell off their land and valuables to buy a gun. The craze was not limited to merely people but caught up with the holy men too.

In Chitrakoot, he said, 500 mutts, temple and ashrams had licenced weapons. In total the quaint religious town has 11, 376 licenced weapons, more than Hamirpur having 9,843 such weapons. “There is definitely a welcome change in this election. The guns are missing from the electoral action,” he said.

Additional director general (Prayagraj) Bhanu Bhaskar said the police on its part have been making sure cent per cent deposit of weapons in lines with orders of the Election Commission. “The exceptions as detailed in the government orders are being complied with; efforts are being made so that weapons do not remain in the hand of trouble-makers and miscreants,” he said.